
Qass F~ ^ /^ 

Book ' JPZLIJ:> 




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^^^'^^^^■^iJijTf^tJTt^JkMfYJi^--^ ■^•^JVS''K* V>5?? 



OF 



Pope and Stevens Counties, 

MINNESOTA, 

Containing Biograpliical Sketclies of Hundreds of Prominent Old 

Settlers and Representative Citizens, „witli a Review of their 

Life Work, their Identity isrith the Development of 

this Region; Reminiscences of Personal History 

and Pioneer Life, together with Portraits 

of Prominent Citizens. 



History of Minnesota, 

Embracing an Account of Early Explorations, Organization, a 

Review of the Political History, and a Concise History 

of the Indian Outbreak of 1862. 



Presidents of the United States, 

Embracing Biographical Sketches and a Full Page Portrait of Each. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO: 

A.LDEN, Ogle c*t Com r- an v. 

1 «s«. 



" Biography is the only true Jiistory. — E.m 



ERSON. 



COPVKIGHT, i88S, 
BV 

OCCIDEXTAL PUBLISHING CO. 

Chicago. III. 



PRINTED AND BOL'XD BV 

PONOHUE & HENNEBERR\% 

CHICAGO. 







C)QNTKNTS 




Presidents of the United States. 



PAGE. 

George Washington 9 

John Adams 14 

Thomas Ji-lTcrson 20 

James JIadisoii 26 

James Monroe 32 

John Quincy Adams 38 

Andrew Jackson 47 

Martin Van Buren 52 

Wm. Henry Harrison 56 

John Tyler 64 

James K. Polk 64 



I'AOE. 

Zachary Taylor 68 

Millard Fillmore 72 

Franklin Pierce 76 

James Buchanan 80 

Abraham Lincoln 84 

Andrew Johnson 93 

U. S. Grant 96 

Rutherford B. Hayes 102 

James A. Garfield 109 

Chester A. Arthur 113 

Grover Cleveland 117 



History of Minnesota. 



CHAPTER I. 

Location, ToroGKAriiY, Ac 123 

Location 123 

Resources 123 

Topography 123 

Railroads 124 

Population Statistics 124 

CHAPTER IL 

HisToKY FUOM 1660 TO 1888 125 

Early F^\plorations 125 

During the Seventeenth Century 126 

I )uring the Kighteentli Century 128 

During the Nineteentli Century 129 

Organization as a Territory 131 

Organization as a State 131 

Chronological Events 131 



CHAPTER in. 

The Indian Massacke 133 

Indian Tribes 133 

Bloodshed 135 

Battles 138 

Surrender of Indians 138 

Execution of Thirty eight Indians 139 

CHAPTER IV. 

TEURITOIilAI, ANU StATE OKKICEUS 140 

CHAPTER V. 

REI'UESENTATrOX IS CoNGUESS AND CUEATION OF 

CoiNTIES 143 

Senators 143 

Representatives 143 

Creation of Counties 144 



TARLF. OF COXTEXTS. 



Pope County.— Descriptive and Historical 



PAGE. 

Descriptive 149 

Area 149 

Soil, Streams, etc 150 

Early Settlement . . 151 

Developmeut and Progress 151 

Grasshoppers 151 

Orsauiz-alion 152 



PAGE. 

First OfTicers 153 

Location of County Seat 153 

Railroad Matters 1.53 

List of County Otticers 153 

County Commissioners 154 

Villages of Pope County 154 



Biographical. 



PAGE. 

Alexander, .Mexander 207 

Allen, Dr. W. C 249 

Amundson, Peter 313 

Anderson, Swen (Langhei). . . . 192 

Anderson, Andrew "W 310 

Anderson, Andrew 282 

Anderson, Andrew P 326 

Anderson, August 341 

Anderson, Swan (Nora) 344 

Anderson, Engebret 346 

Anderson, Daniel 350 

Andrew, William 230 

Aslakson, Haldor 206 

Avok, Andrew 303 

Bartke, Daniel A 357 

Barsness, Erik N 168 

Barsness, Schak L ... 223 

Barsness, Su.san 235 

Barsness, Hon. O. N 235 

Barsness, Peter E 265 

Barsness, Nels N 352 

Baukol, M. H 328 

Barkuloo, Rev. C. T 332 

Beacb, Walter L 219 

Beach, Lewis 219 

Benterud, Thurston A 232 

Benson, Ilalvor 246 

Benson, Arne 311 

Berg, M. M 314 

Bishop, Alvin J 215 

Bjork, Jlrs. Emma 304 

Blair, James 225 

Blair, John C 260 

Booth, Samuel 273 

Brown, George 161 



PAGE. 

Brown, George W 165 

Brevig, Knute L 223 

Brevig, Lars 223 

Brevig, A. L 250 

Brevig. C. L 331 

Brainard, Wm. D 818 

Butler, Henry 177 

Car;on, William J 171 

Carpenter, Henry C 172 

Callaghan, Thomas 183 

Cantleberry , Levi B 188 

Carrington, Arthur 201 

Calmeyer, Fred 204 

Carlson, Ellert 226 

Carlson, Lewis 290 

Campbell, John 355 

Christilaw, Mathew 173 

Christilaw, William 173 

Churchill, Charles W 243 

Councilman, Clark P 162 

Cook, James 184 

Cook, Joseph 317 

Cooke, Abraham 22$) 

Cooley , Jphn 245 

Cobui-n, George B 193 

Cox, Hon. Edwin 316 

Craig, Robert 336 

Danforth, Dudley D 190 

Dauforth, B. F 190 

Davidson, Ole 228 

Davidson, Thomas D 260 

Dyrstad, Ole 204 

Eddy, Frank M 271 

Elsey, Rev. E. G 267 i 



PAGE. 

Ellertson, Charles 226 

Emerson, Andrew 253 

Emmerson, Jared 270 

Emmerson, William C 2S2 

Emmer.son, John 350 

Englund, Axel G 188 

Engebretson, Peter 265 

Engebretson, Hans 293 

Engebretson, Ole 337 

Erickson, Peter 227 

Erickson, Ole 252 

Erickson, Andrew 305 

Erickson, Gustaf 307 

Eslby, H. C 327 

Estenson, John O 199 

Falkner, George 175 

Ferree, Joel 243 

Femrite, Severt 329 

Fish, Everett W 288 

Fleming, William R 182 

Floten, John A.. 183 

Fovvld.s, George 174 

Fowlds, James 180 

Fowlds, John 180 

Foss, E. 232 

Frederick, John W 258 

Frederick, Samuel W 302 

Frederick, Charles 323 

Frederick, George 354 

Gallinger, James N 203 

Gilbert. Samuel E . . . . .' 209 

Gilbertson, Ole 223 

Gorden . Jlrs. JIaren 322 

Grant, Daniel L 186 



Tahle of contk.vts. 



\' 



PAGE. 

Grant, David W 185 

Grafe. lltimiin A 178 

(iiindcrson, Tharaltl KIG 

Oundeison, Kief 231 

Ilaldorson, Aslak 306 

llalvorson. Tlioiii 212 

Hiilvorson, Mrs. Carrie 299 

Ilalverson, Ilalvcr 331 

Hanson, Johan E 2L'9 

Hanson, Magnus 288 

Hansen, Hans N 304 

Haugen, ICnute 247 

Hagen, Tver 249 

Hall, Mrs. Maria 354 

Helland, Michael E 190 

Heglaud, Louis L 324 

Higgins, M. W 276 

Hippc, Iver 1 214 

Hook, J. Q 230 

Holen, OleH 238 

Hogan, Patrick 275 

Hogan, Joseph 298 

Hogenson, Anton 280 

HoTly. \\.\i 291 

Homcstad. Edward. 295 

Hoffman, Peter 315 

Hulchins, .Joseph C 164 

Hutcliiiis, Nelson 217 

Huset, C 286 

Hume, Thomas 202 

Ingebriglsen, Lars 303 

Irgens, Ole 301 

Jacobson, Andrew 212 

Jamison, James K 239 

JefTers, Jolin 184 

Johnshoy. Hans 160 

Johnson, Ole J 167 

John.son, John 210 

Johnson, Henrj' 227 

Johnson, John E 228 

Johnson, Einar 247 

Johnson, Peter W 261 

Johnson, Torgus 262 

Johnson, Nicolia 311 

Jolinson, Mrs. Maria 340 

Johnson, Erick 348 

Jolinslon, Robert E 170 

Jones, Patrick 199 

Jorgenson, Halver 314 

Judkins,, A. M., Jr 345 

J udkins, Alanson J 352 

Kamrud, Iver O 325 

Keeuey, Alonzo M 221 



PAGE. 

Kee, Charles T 251 

Kelly. Oscar A 284 

Kitlelson, Ole 170 

K jos, Andrew 255 

Knudson, E. E 330 

Koch, Albert 335 

Koefod, Rev. M 312 

Koefod, Eilert 235 

Latlure, P ... 305 

Larson, Gustaf 169 

Larson, Hans '. 321 

Larson, Tory 334 

Larson, John 349 

Lageson, Hans A . . . . 347 

Lee, Ole B 171 

Lewis, George H 264 

Leyde, A. E 333 

Leyde, Frederick 340 

Lebeck, David Olson 349 

Lien, Tosten C 214 

Lien, E. 335 

Lieu, Nels M 3,'53 

Linquist, Erick 278 

Lilienthal, II. Von 303 

Lohrc, Ole 181 

Lnndring, Andrew L S41 

Maynard, Mrs. Luthera II 248 

Maynard, Cyrus W 248 

McNutt, Thomas G 188 

McNull, John 188 

McAllister, George E 348 

McCann, Arthur . ... 278 

McKinzie, K 191 

Mikkelson. Bergcr 270 

Morten.son, C 277 

Morlenson, Ole 337 

Monson, Malhias 191 

Nelson, Ole 197 

Newgord. Jens A 326 

Nilson, Engebret 196 

Nilson, Nels 330 

Norlin, John 196 

Oleson, Albert G 179 

Olson, Olaus 202 

Olson, Haagen 242 

Olson, Detrick 2.50 

Olson, Samuel 2.57 

Olson, Engebret 317 

Olson, Gunder 339 

Omen, Erick 241 

Osterberg, August 215 

Oswald, Charles A 295 

Ovcrson, Alek 263 



PAGE. 

Paulson, Hans 2.55 

Peacock, John 186 

Peacock, Joseph 263 

Peacock, Koberl 292 

Peck, Aaron W .... 300 

Pederson, Martin 179 

Peterson, Carl L 201 

Peterson, Bent 287 

Peterson. Sven 294 

Peterson, Thomas 296 

Peterson, Simon N 306 

Peterson, Ole 321 

Peterson, Peter 338 

Peterson, Jlieliael 261 

Perkins, William 238 

Pennie, Peter 266 

Pennie, Daniel 323 

Rathburn. Dorr 267 

Reeves, Charles P 197 

Reeves, Abel D 258 

Reque, Rev. P 303 

Rigg, Ole 165 

Riley, Michael 334 

Rotto. John J 329 

Ronning. Iver O 348 

Ronnie, Sever O 346 

Roe, Peter O 381 

Roe, K. O 356 

Rue, Michael M 318 

Rud.Thore 287 

Runquist Jacob 299 

Ruddock, Rev. E.N 351 

Sandvig, Henry Johnson 227 

Sandvig, Ole J 310 

Schey, Andrew 213 

Schwieger, Thomas 308 

Shook, Judge Norman 160 

Shaw, Boss 195 

Signalness, Olavies 276 

Signalncss, Berlhin R 343 

Signalness, Rasmus 343 

Silver, Ilartwell 328 

Skinner, Dr. J. F 219 

Skogen, Erick E 351 

Smith, Clark S 252 

Smith, J. Dickson 297 

Snetting, John 836 

Solhaug, Jens 236 

Strong, Victor E 200 

Stephenson, David 220 

Stenson. Henry 238 

Stebbins, Lavoisure 256 

Stewart, George W 368 

Stinson, William J 269 



TABLE OF COXTEA'TS. 



PAGE. 

Stalker, James E 309 

Stalker, John C 355 

Stoen, Audreas 318 

Stcen.OIeL 839 

Stocklaiul, Die J 350 

Squire, Jlrs. Maria A 244 

S(iuire, Charles C 244 

Suckstorff, Hans ... 194 

Sweeney, John 251 

Swenson, Simon 273 

Syverson, Admun 242 

Taplin, George F 187 

Taylor, Eben 285 

Teigen, Iver J 220 

Tharaldsen, Gundcr 166 

Thompson, Iver 316 

Thompson, Thomas E 192 

Thompson, Erick E 281 

Thompson, Gunnuf 307 



Thacker. Hon. G. W 

Thorson, Reier 

Thorson, Theodore. . . 

Thorson, Tory 

Trtronsrvn, Thorn 

Tobey, N. F 

Tobey, John 

Toftner, Lar> () . . .-. 
Townsend, Joseph. . . 

Troen, Benjiimin 

Tracv, M. II 



».\GE. 

208 
. 241 
. 245 
. 327 
. 298 
. 291 
. 349 
. 343 
. 216 
. 183 

321 



Urnas, NelsH 210 

Urnes, Ole N 294 

Von Lilienthal, II 363 

Vralson, Knute 301 

Warren, Dr. Q. C 343 

Warburton, Thomas 292 

AVamsley, James 280 



P.\GE. 

Ward, Martin 254 

West, Enoch E 174 

Webster, E. M 331 

Webster, L. D ...,.., 344 

Whittemore.IIon. J. G 159 

Whittemore, Capt. W. K 274 

Wheeler, George R 205 

Wi son, Ole K 301 

Winslow, John S 181 

Winslow. Geo. P 225 

Wollan, Hon. M. A 163 

Wollan, Nels B 176 

AVollan, Peter B 240 

Wollan, Andrew B 272 

Wollan, Casper T 279 

Wollan, B. C 289 

Wollan, Ernst 296 

Wollan, BenjamiuK 312 

Wolfe, Daniel C 337 



Stevens County.— Descrif'tive and Historical. 



PAGE. 

Location 371 

Topography and Area 371 

Stevens County as First Establi.slied 372 

Early Travel 372 

During the Indian Outbreak 372 

Early Settlement and Progress 373 

Grassliopper Days 373 

Pioneers 374 



PAGE. 

Fir.«t Events 874 

Organization of the Count}- 376 

First County Ollieers 376 

Lisi of Countj' Commissioners 376 

List of County Officers 377 

Railway Facilities 377 

Villages of Stevens Countv 378 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



P.\<iE. 

Aasunib, Ole O 445 

Aasumb, John 458 

Anderson, Anton E 463 

Anderson, Charles 510 

Anderson, John 523 

Atwood, Eugene 4.59 

Bailey, James W 449 

Backius. John P 465 

Baldwin. Henry 491 

Bangle, John W 524 



I'AGK. 

Beggs, George 516 

Bevans, Henry T 493 

Berkin, Justin 465 

Bicknell, William C 428 

Borrill, George W 430 

Borrill, John 523 

Borled, Hans O 504 

Brown, Hon. C. L 406 

Brown, Charles VV 477 

Brown, Daniel C 477 



PAGE. 

Brennan, James 510 

Brennau, Peter 510 

Bucklin, John C 439 

Buckentin, F .502 

Burlingame, L. S 506 

Camp, John H 420 

Camp, Charles E 420 

Camp. Mile 526 

Card, Levi A 431 



TABLE OF COX TENTS. 



PAGE. 

Calhiliaii, Thomas A 444 

Campbell, John C 469 

Carney, .lohn .1 470 

Church, Thomas 410 

Christiansen, .Jacob 479 

Cin, .John 430 

Clemetson, Ole 4.5.^ 

Comstock, Charles W 42:? 

Comstock, Solomon 423 

Comstock, Andrew J 49S 

Coleman, Mark 4i)2 

Colahan, Thomas C 478 

Colyer, AVilliam I. 471 

Croonquist, Charles . I HOI 

Curtis, William. 440 

Darrow, Nelson W 386 

Daley, Martin 389 

Daley, Henry W 433 

Darling, George E. . 397 

Dablow, Charles C 427 

Dablow, John 427 

Danielson, John E 436 

Day, Eugene .503 

Delahunt, James E 427 

Dickenson, J. >[ 433 

Dickinson, Munford 488 

Dresser, Horace . 1 448 

Drovdall, E. P MO 

Duley, Dr. S. II 4.jl 

Dyer, Peter h\\ 

Eddy, Homer li 4.54 

Eddy, Uichard 4.54 

Eddy. John W .512 

Ekman, John H ,502 

Ellsworth, H. H 474 

Erickson, August 423 

EricksoD, Arne 466 

Erickson, John .50!) 

Erickson, Gilbert 515 

Etteswold, M. H 402 

Eystad, Ole R .. 426 

Pels, Henry 482 

Finnegan, Michael P 392 

Pitzgerald, ^lichael 519 

Flahorly, Stephen A , 387 

Prank, Hans 514 

Gates, Dr C. L 441 

Gates, Lattimer B 441 

Gaarder, Christian 442 

Gabriel, Hans H 490 

Gabriel, John 490 

Giltinan, George M 401 

Gillespie, John 494 



PAGE. 

Good. Hon. John D 484 

Griswol.l. Col. \V. W 434 

Grillith, Patrick 489 

Grassnian, Charles 472 

Hanson, Ole C 457 

Hadden, John 524 

Hancock, Prank .V 453 

Hancock, Johu'C 403 

Harstad, Ed. E 490 

Hadler, John 515 

Hall, Hon, Kollin J 390 

Hall, Dudley 391 

Helgeson, Knute C 382 

Heuer, Henry 524 

Heath, Samuel D 516 

Henrichs, Jacob 494 

Heunessy, Dennis .506 

Heller, Fred. W 409 

inland, William H 468 

Hitchen, Santiago 498 

Hilchen. James 498 

House, John 437 

Holmes, Samuel 444 

Hollmann, Rev. Charles 446 

Hollmann, E. H 481 

Holton, John R 451 

Ilolton, David 451 

Horton, William T 435 

Hope. John 390 

Hodgman. Henry 462 

Hiisevold, K. J 497 

Hulburd, Dr. L. II 511 

Hull, Clarence W 894 

Huntley, William W 400 

Huntley. Dennis 413 

Hunter, John 419 

Hvile.JohnG 511 

Isherwood, Henry 491 

Johnson, Janes A 411 

.lohnson, Henry 447 

Johnson, Hans E 483 

Jones, Edwin J 443 

Judd, Johns 472 

Judson, Henry S 414 

Keim, John 453 

Kline, Christian. . , . 417 

Kopetzke, John 426 

Larson, Samuel 395 

Larson, Peter G 398 

Larson, Hans 518 

Lee, Edwin 461 

Lee, Abraham 513 

Leonard, Daniel 531 



r.vcE. 

Leaman, Charles 412 

Linsley, D. G 439 

Linstail, Tlieodore 486 

Ling, Ingel 518 

Ligiit, C. K 523 

Lofthus, Ole 4S8 

Mangen, John 523 

Maginnis, Charles I* 381 

Maginnis, John 407 

Mackenzie, A. C 4:2 

Mackenzie, Willium D 417 

Mackenzie, Peter C 450 

Macintosh, L. R 475 

Matteson, George ■. 512 

Mader, Peter 519 

Maughan, George W 468 

Marty. Franz 405 

McArlhur. R. B 499 

McCannoy, Thomas 483 

McDonald, James 485 

McR..berts, Edward 396 

Milan, James 480 

Milan, Martin 480 

Moore, Henry D 480 

Jloore, Thomas J 521 

Munro, George H 416 

Munro, William 442 

ilurphy, Stephen C 409 

Murphy, Dennis 467 

Murphy, Timothy ... 474 

Newton, George B 429 

Newton, Hugh 429 

Newell, Frank E 490 

Ncudick. Gu.-t 457 

Nilson, N. A 494 

Nobel, LarsG 384 

OBryan, John C 473 

Olson, Charles 393 

Olson, Captain, S. B 436 

Olson, Clemont 450 

O'Reilly, James 520 

Pepper, Charles A 418 

Perkins, L. D 503 

Peck, Alfred C 485 

Phelps, Carrington 403 

Pierce, Loren E 487 

Poison, .lohn W. AV 4.59 

Poison, Benjamin 4.59 

Pushor, L. H 486 

Pusher, Joseph W 505 

Rankin , David 455 

Ralhbun, Perry 505 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Rasrausson, Lars ... .WT 

Randall, E. W 508 

Rentz, Fred J 517 

Richardson. Hon. K. M 384 

Riordan, William 458 

Ringrose, Mark 475 

Ringrose, William 476 

Semans, Orvill .504 

Schmid, .Joseph 395 

Smith. Samuel B 405 

Smith, Frank G 422 

Smith, Burton J 517 

Solseth, Erick E 421 

Spain, Patrick 463 

Spurr, N. R 423 

Stone, Hon. H. W 398 

Stone, A. A 487 

Stanton, Lewis H 477 



PACiE. 

Stevens, Col. R. C 495 

Stebbins, S. J 502 

Sutherland, Dr. D. R 424 

Thorp, George C 400 

Thompson, Austin 425 

Thorstad, P. 476 

Thomasson, Thomas 525 

Tollifson, Iver T 410 

ToT.-aerG. C 449 

Trantow, Adolph 523 

Trost, Jacob 420 

Valentine, Guy 456 

Wahldieck, Frank 466 

Ware, William P 452 

Walker, Joseph 440 

Watson, Elijah P 500 

Watson, John 500 



PAtiK 

Wells, Hon. H. H 393 

Wells, Stuart B 495 

Wellington, Leland . . . 432 

Wheelock. A. W 509 

Wheaton, D. T 521 

Whiteley , Hugh 454 

Williams, Albert B 885 

Wintermute, Charles 388 

Wilcox, Frank 415 

Wilcox, William 415 

Wolflf, Henry B 408 

Wunsch, William 469 

Young, Archie 383 

Zahl, Frank A... 464 

Zahl, Herman 530 

Zimmerman, Christian 479 



Illustrations. 



P.VGE. 

Adams, John 15 

Adams, John Quincy 39 

Arthur, Chester A 112 

Buchanan, James 81 

Cleveland, Grover 116 

Fillmore, Millard 73 

Garfield, James A 108 

Gram, U. S 97 



PAOE. ! 

Harrison, Wm. 11 57 

Hayes, Rutherford B 103 

Jackson, Andrew 46 

Jefferson, Thomas 21 

Johnson, Andrew 92 



Lincoln, Abraham. 



85 



Madison, James 27 

Monroe, James 33 



PAOE. 

Pierce, Franklin 77 

Polk, James K 65 

Taylor, Zachary 09 

Tyler, .John 61 

Van Buren, Martin 53 

Washington, George 8 





I 



OEOJiCE WASHINGTON. 





EORGE WASHING- 
TON, the " Father of 
liis Country" and its 
first President, 1789- 
'97, was born Febru- 
ary 22, 1732, in Wash- 
ington Parish, West- 
moreland Count 3', Virginia. 
His father, Augustine Wash- 
ington, first married Jane But- 
ler, who bore him four chil- 
dren, and March 6, 1730, he 
married Mary Ball. Of six 
children by his second mar- 
riage, George was the eldest, 
the others being Betty, Sanuicl, John, Au- 
gustine, Charles and Mildred, ot whom tlie 
youngest flied in infancy. Little is known 
of the early years of Washington, bc3'ond 
the fact that the house in which he was 
born was burned during his early child- 
hood, and that his father thereupon moved 
to another farm, inherited from his i)aternal 
ancestors, situated in Stafford County, on 
the north bank of the Rappahannock, where 
he acted as agent of the Frincipio Iron 
Works in the immediate vicinity, and died 
there in 1743. 

From earliest childhood George devel- 
oped a noble character. He had a vigorous 
constitution, a fine form, and great bodily 
strength. His education was somewhat de- 



fective, being confined to the elementary 
branches taught him by his mother and at 
a neighboring school. He developed, how- 
ever, a fondness for mathematics, and en- 
joyed in that branch the instructions of a 
private teacher. On leaving school he re- 
sided for some time at Mount Vernon with 
his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as 
his guardian, and who had married a daugh- 
ter of his neighbor at Belvoir on the Poto- 
mac, the wealtiiy William Fairfax, for some 
time president of the executive council of 
the colon}'. Both Fairfax and his son-in-law, 
Lawrence Washington, had served with dis- 
tinction in 1740 as officers of an American 
battalion at the siege of Carlhagena, and 
were friends and correspondents of Admiral 
Vernon, for whom the hitter's residence on 
the Potomac has been named. George's 
inclinations were for a similar career, and a 
midshipman's warrant was procured for 
him, probably through the influence of the 
Admiral ; but through the opposition of liis 
mother the project was abandoned. The 
family connection with the Fairfaxes, how- 
ever, opened another career for the young 
man, who, at the age of sixteen, was ap- 
pointed surveyor to the immense estates of 
the eccentric Lord Fairfax, who was then 
on a visit at Belvoir, and who shortly after- 
ward established his baronial residence at 
Grcenway Court, in the Shenandoah Valley. 



PRESIDiiXrS UF THE UNITED STATES. 



Three years were passed by 3'oung Wash- 
ington in a rough frontier life, gaining ex- 
perience which afterward proved very es- 
sential to him. 

In 1 75 1, when the Virginia militia were 
put under training wiih a view to active 
service against France, Washington, though 
only nineteen years of age, was appointed 
Adjutant with the rank of Major. In Sep- 
tember of that year the failing health of 
Lawrence Washington rendered it neces- 
sary for him to seek a warmer climate, and 
George accompanied him in a voyage to 
Barb^does. They returned early in 1752, 
and Lawrence shortly afterward died, leav- 
ing his large property to an infant daughter. 
In his will George was named one of the 
executors and as eventual heir to Mount 
Vernon, and b\' the death of the infant niece 
soon succeeded to that estate. 

On the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie as 
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1752 
the militia was reorganized, and the prov- 
ince divided into four districts. Washing- 
ton was commissioned bv Dinwiddie Adju- 
tant-General of the Northern District in 
1753, and in November of that 3-ear a most 
important as well as hazardous mission was 
assigned him. This was to proceed to the 
Canadian posts recently established on 
French Creek, near Lake Erie, to demand 
in the name of the King of England the 
withdrawal of the French from a territory' 
claimed by Virginia. This enterprise had 
been declined by more than one officer, 
since it involved a journey through an ex- 
tensive and almost unexplored wilderness 
in the occupancy of savage Indian tribes, 
either hostile to the English, or of doubtful 
attachment. Major Washington, however, 
accepted the commission with alacrity ; and, 
accompanied by Captain Gist, he reached 
Fort Le Boeuf on French Creek, delivered 
his dispatches and received reply, which, of 
course, was a polite refusal to surrender the 
posts. This reply was of such a character 



as to induce the Assembly of Virginia to 
authorize the executive to raise a regiment 
of 300 men for the purpose of maintaining 
the asserted rights of the British crown 
over the territory claimed. As Washing- 
ton declined to be a candidate for that post, 
the command of this regiment was given to 
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washing- 
ton, at his own request, was commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the march to Ohio, 
news was received that a party previously 
sent to build a fort at the confluence of the 
Monongahela with the Ohio had been 
driven back bv a considerable French force, 
which had completed the work there be- 
gun, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor 
of the Marquis Duquesne, then Governor 
of Canada. This was the beginning of the 
great ''French and Indian war,'' which con- 
tinued seven years. On the death of Colonel 
Fry, Washington succeeded to the c(jm- 
mand of the regiment, and so well did he 
fulfill his trust that the Virginia Assembly 
commissioned him as Commander-in-Chief 
of all the forces raised in the colony. 

A cessation of all Indian hostility on the 
frontier having followed the expulsion of 
the French from the Ohio, the object of 
Wasiiington was accomplished and he re- 
signed his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Virginia forces. He then pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in 
the General Assembly, of which he had 
been elected a member. 

January 17, 1759, Washington married 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a young 
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and de- 
voted himself for the ensuing fifteen years 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter- 
rupted onl}- by his annual attendance in 
winter upon the Colonial Legislature at 
Williamsburg, until summoned by his 
country to enter upon that other arena in 
which his fame was to become world wide. 

It is unnecessary here to trace the details 
of the struggle upon the question of local 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



self-government, which, after ten years, cul- 
minated b}' act of Parliament of the port of 
Boston. It was at the instance of Virginia 
that a congress of all the colonies was called 
to meet at Philadelphia Septembers, 1774, 
to secure their common liberties — if possible 
by peaceful means. To this Congress 
Colonel Washington was sent as a dele- 
gate. On dissolving in October, it recom- 
mended the colonies to send deputies to 
another Congress the following spring. In 
the meantime several of the colonies felt 
impelled to raise local forces to repel in- 
sults and aggressions on the part of British 
troops, so that on the assembling of the next 
Congress, Mav 10, 1775, the war prepara- 
tions of the mother country were unmis- 
takable. The battles of Concord and Lex- 
ington had been fought. Among the earliest 
acts, therefore, of the Congress was the 
selection of a commander-in-chief of the 
colonial forces. This office was unani- 
mously conferred upon Washington, still a 
member of the Congress. He accepted it 
on June 19, but on the express condition he 
should receive no salary. 

He immediately repaired to the vicinity 
of Boston, against which point the British 
ministry had concentrated their forces. As 
early as April General Gage had 3,000 
troops in and around this proscribed city. 
During the fall and winter the British policy 
clearly indicated a purpose to divide pub- 
lic sentiment and to build up a British party 
in the colonies. Those who sided with the 
ministry were stigmatized by the patriots 
as-" Tories," while the patriots took to them- 
selves the name of " Whigs." 

As early as 1776 the leading men had 
come to the conclusion that there was no 
hope except in separation and indepen- 
dence. In May of that year Washington 
wrote from the head of the army in New 
York : " A reconciliation with Great Brit- 
ain is impossible When I took 

command of the army, I abhorred the idea 



of independence ; but 1 am now fully satis- 
fied that nothing else will save us." 

It is not the object of this sketch to trace 
the military acts of the patriot hero, to 
whose hands the fortunes and liberties of 
the United States were confided during the 
seven years' bloody struggle that ensued 
until the treaty of 17S3, in which England 
acknowledged the independence of each o( 
the thirteen States, and negotiated with 
them, jointly, as separate sovereignties. The 
merits of Washington as a military chief- 
tain have been considerably discussed, espe- 
cially by writers in his own country. Dur- 
ing the war he was most bitterly assailed 
for incompetency, and great efforts were 
made to displace him ; but he never for a 
moment lost the confidence of either the 
Congress or the people. December 4, 1783, 
the great commander took leave of his offi- 
I cers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, 
and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where 
the Congress of the States was in session, 
and to that body, when peace and order 
prevailed everywhere, resigned his com- 
mission and retired to Mount Vernon. 

It was in 1788 that Washington was called 
to the chief magistracy of the nation. He 
received every electoral vote cast in all the 
colleges of the States voting for the office 
of President. The 4th of March, 1789, was 
the time appointed for the Government of 
the United States to begin its operations, 
but several weeks elapsed before quorums 
of both the newly constituted houses of the 
Congress were assembled. The city of New 
York was the place where the Congress 
then met. April 16 Washington left his 
home to enter upon the discharge of his 
new duties. He set out with a purpose of 
traveling privately, and without attracting 
any public attention ; but this was impossi- 
ble. Everywhere on his way he was met 
with thronging crowds, eager to see the 
man whom they regarded as the chief de- 
fender of their liberties, and everywhere 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



he was hailed with those public manifesta- 
tions of joy, regard and love which spring- 
spontaneously from the hearts of an affec- 
tionate and grateful people. His reception 
in New York was marked by a grandeur 
and an enthusiasm never before witnessed 
in that metropolis. The inauguration took 
place April 30, in the presence of an immense 
multitude which had assembled to witness 
the new and imposing ceremony. The oath 
of office was administered by Robert R. 
Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When 
this sacred pledge was given, he retired 
with the other officials into the Senate 
chamber, where he delivered his inaugural 
address to both houses of the newl}^ con- 
stituted Congress in joint assembly. 

In the manifold details of his civil ad- 
ministration, Washington proved himself 
equal to the requirements of his position. 
The greater portion of the first session of 
the first Congress was occupied in passing 
the necessary statutes for putting the new 
organization into complete operation. In 
the discussions brought up in the course of 
this legislation the nature and character of 
the new system came under general review. 
On no one of them did any decided antago- 
nism of opinion arise. All held it to be a 
limited government, clothed only with spe- 
cific powers conferred by delegation from 
the States. There was no change in the 
name oi the legislative department ; it still 
remained " the Congress of the United 
States of America." There was no change 
in the original flag of the country, and none 
in the seal, which still remains with the 
Grecian escutcheon borne by the eagle, 
with other emblems, under the great and 
expressive motto, "£ Pluribtis U)min." 

The first division of parties arose upon 
the manner of construing the powers dele- 
gated, and they were first styled " strict 
constructionists" and " latitudinarian con- 
structionists." The former were for con- 
fining the action of the Government strictly 



within its specific and limited sphere, while 
the others were for enlarging its powers by 
inference and implication. Hamilton and 
Jefferson, both members of the first cabinev- 
were regarded as the chief leaders, respect 
ively, of these rising antagonistic parties, 
which have existed, under different names 
from that day to this. Washington was re 
gardedas holding a neutral [xisition between 
them, though, by mature deliberation, he 
vetoed the first apportionment bill, in 1790, 
passed b}' the party headed b}' Hamilton, 
which was based upon a principle construct- 
ivel}' leading to centralization or consoli- 
dation. This was the first exercise of the 
veto power under the present Constitution. 
It created considerable excitement at the 
time. AncHher bill was soon passed in pui"- 
suance of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has 
been adhered to in principle in every ap- 
portionment act passed since. 

At the second session of the new Con- 
gress, Washington announced the gratify- 
ing fact of " the accession of North Caro- 
lina" to the Constitution of 1787, and June 
I of the same year he announced by special 
message the like " accession of the State of 
Rhode Island," with his congratulations on 
the happy event which " united under the 
general Government" all the States which 
were originally confederated. 

In 1792, at the second Presidential elec- 
tion, Washington was desirous to retire ; 
but he 3ielded to the general wish of the 
country, and was again chosen President 
by the unanimous vote of every electoral 
college. At the third election, 1796, he was 
again most urgently entreated to consent to 
remain in the executive chair. This he 
positively refused. In September, before 
the election, he gave to his countrymen his 
memorable Farewell Address, which in lan- 
guage, sentiment and patriotism was a fit 
and crowning glory of his illustrious life. 
After March 4, 1797, he again retired to 
Mount Vernon for peace, quiet and repose. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



His administration for the two terms had 
been successful beyond the expectation and 
hopes of even the most sanguine of his 
friends. The finances of the country were 
no longer in an embarrassed condition, the 
public credit was fully restored, life was 
given to every department of industry, the 
workings of the new system in allowing 
Congress to raise revenue from duties on 
imports proved to be not only harmonious 
in its federal action, but astonishing in its 
results upon the commerce and trade of all 
the States. The exports from the Union 
increased from $19,000,000 to over §56,000,- 
000 per annum, while the imports increased 
in about the same proportion. Three new 
members had been added to the Union. Tiie 
progress of the States in their new career 
under their new organization thus far was 
exceedingly encouraging, not only to the 
friends of libcrtv within their own limits, 
but to their svmpathizing allies in all climes 
and countries. 

Ol the call again made on this illustrious 



chief to quit his repose at Mount V^ernon 
and take command of all the United States 
forces, with the rank of Licutenant-General, 
when war was threatened with France in 
1798, nothing need here be stated, except to 
note the fact as an unmistakable testimo- 
nial of the high regard in which he was still 
held by his countrymen, of all shades of po- 
litical opinion. He patriotically accepted 
this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop 
to all action under it. He again retired to 
Mount Vernon, where, after a short and 
severe illness, he died December 14, 1799, 
in the sixtv-eighth year of his age. The 
whole countr}^ was filled with gloom by this 
sad intelligence. Men of all parties in poli- 
tics and creeds in religion, in every State 
in the Union, united with Congress in " pay- 
ing honor to the man, first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men," 

His remains were deposited in a family 
vault on the banks of the Potomac at Mount 
Vernon, where they still lie entombed. 




It 



PRESlDEiVTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 












ffe*© 




*OHN ADAMS, the second 
President of the United 
States, 1797 to 1 80 1, was 
born in the present town 
of Oiiincy, then a portion 
of Braintree, Massachu- 
setts, October 30, 1735. His 
father was a farmer of mod- 
erate means, a worthy and 
industrious man. He was 
a deacon in the church, and 
was very desirous of giving 
his son a collegiate educa-j 
tion, hoping that he would 
become a minister of the 
gospel. But, as up to this 
time, the age of fourteen, he had been only 
a play-boy in the fields and forests, he had 
no taste for books, he chose farming. On 
being set to work, however, by his father 
out in the field, the very first day con- 
verted the boy into a lover of books. 

Accordingly, at the age of sixteen he 
entered Harvard College, and graduated in 
1755, at the age of twenty, highly esteemed 
for integrity, energy and ability. Thus, 
having no capital but his education, he 
started out into the stormy world at a time 
of great political excitement, as France and 
England were then engaged in their great 
seven-years struggle for the mastery over 
the New World. The fire of patriotism 



seized young Adams, and for a tiaic- he 
studied over the question whether he 
should take to the law, to politics orihe 
army. He wrote a remarkable letter to a 
friend, making prophecies concerning the 
future greatness of this countrv which have 
since been more than fulfilled. For two 
3'ears he taught school and studied law, 
wasting no odd moments, and at the early 
age of twenty-two years he opened a law 
office in his native town. His inherited 
powers of mind and untiring devotion to 
his profession caused him to rise rapidly 
in public esteem. 

In October, 1764, Mr. Adams married 
Miss Abigail Smith, daughter of a clergy- 
man at Weymouth and a lad}' of rare per- 
sonal and intellectual endowments, who 
afterward contributed much to her hus- 
band's celebrity. 

Soon the oppression of the British in 
America reached its climax. The Boston 
merchants employed an attorney by the 
name of James Otis to ai-gue the legality of 
oppressive tax law before the Superior 
Court. Adams heard the argument, and 
afterward wrote to a friend concerning the 
ability displayed, as follows : " Otis was a 
fiame of fire. With a promptitude of 
classical allusion, a depth of research, a 
rapid summary of historical events and 
dates, a profusion of legal authorities and a 



JOHN ADAAfS. 



'7 



prophetic glance into futurity, he hurried 
away all before him. American independence 
was then and there born. Every man of an 
immensely crowded audience appeared to 
me to go away, as I did, ready to take up 
arms." 

Soon Mr. Adams wrote an essay to be 
read before the literarj' club of his town, 
upon the state of affairs, which was so able 
as to attract public attention. It was pub- 
lished in American journals, republished 
in England, and was pronounced by the 
friends of the colonists there as " one of the 
very best productions ever seen from North 
America." 

The memorable Stamp Act was now 
issued, and Adams entered with all the 
ardor of his soul into political life in order 
to resist it. He drew up a series of reso- 
lutions remonstrating against the act, which 
were adopted at a public meeting of the 
citizens of Braintree, and which were sub- 
sequently ado[)ted, word for word, by more 
than forty towns in the State. Popular 
conimotLiin prevented the landing of the 
Stamp Act papers, anti the English author- 
ities then closed the courts. The town of 
Boston therefore ap[)ointed Jeremy Grid- 
ley, James Otis and John Adams to argue a 
petition before the Governor and council 
for the re-opening of the courts; and while 
the two first mentioned attorneys based 
their argument upon the distress caused to 
the people by the measure, Adams boldly 
claimed that the Stamp Act was a violation 
both of the English Constitution and the 
charter of the Provinces. It is said that 
this was the first direct denial of the un- 
limited right of Parliament over the colo- 
nies. Soon after this the Stamp Act was 
repealed. 

Directly Mr. Adams was employed to 
defend Ansell Nickerson, who had killed an 
Englishman in the act of impressing him 
(Nickerson) into the King's service, and his 
client was acquitted, the court thus estab- 



lishing the principle that the infamous 
royal prerogative of impressment could 
have no existence in the colonial code. 
But in 1770 Messrs. Adams and Josiah 
Quincy defended a party of British soldiers 
who had been arrested for murder when 
they had been only obeying Governmental 
orders ; and when reproached for thus ap- 
parently deserting the cause of popular 
liberty, Mr. Adams replied that he would a 
thousandfold rather live under the domina- 
tion of the worst of England's kings than 
under that of a lawless mob. Next, after 
serving a term as a member of the Colonial 
Legislature from Boston, Mr. Adams, find- 
ing his health affected by too great labor, 
retired to his native home at Braintree. 

The year 1774 soon arrived, with its fa- 
mous Boston '• Tea Party," the first open 
act of rebellion. Adams was sent to the 
Congress at Philadelphia; and when the 
Attorney-General announced that Great 
Britain had " determined on her S3'stem, 
and that her power to execute it was irre- 
sistible," Adams replied : " I know that 
Great Britain has determined on her sys- 
tem, and that very determination deter- 
mines me on mine. You know that I have 
been constant in my opposition to her 
measures. The die is now cast. I have 
passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or 
die, with my country, is my unalterable 
determination." The rumor beginning to 
prevail at Philadelphia that the Congress 
had independence in view, Adams foresaw 
that it was too soon to declare it openly. 
He advised every one to remain quiet in 
that respect; and as soon as it became ap- 
parent that he himself was for independ- 
ence, he was advised to hide himself, which 
he did. 

The next year the great Revolutionary 
war opened in earnest, and Mrs. Adams, 
residing near Buston, kept her husband ad- 
vised by letter of all the events transi)iring 
in her vicinity. Ihe battle of Bunker Hill 



I8 



•I'RESI DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



came on. Congress had to do something 
immediately. The first thing was to 
choose a commander-in-chief for the — we 
can't say " army " — the fighting men of the 
colonies. The New England delegation 
was almost unanimous in favor of appoint- 
ing General Ward, then at the head of the 
Massachusetts forces, but Mr. Adams urged 
the appointment of George Washington, 
then almost unknown outside of his own 
State. He was appointed without oppo- 
sition. Mr. Adams offered the resolution, 
which was adopted, annulling all the rova! 
authority in the colonies. Having thus 
prepared the way, a few weeks later, viz., 
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, who a few months before had declared 
that the British Government would aban- 
don its oppressive measures, now offered 
the memorable resolution, seconded by 
Adams, " that these United States are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent." 
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and 
Livingston were then appointed a commit- 
tee to draught a declaration of independ- 
ence. Mr. Jefferson desired Mr. Adams 
to draw up the bold document, but the 
latter persuaded Mr. Jefferson to perform 
that responsible task. The Declaration 
drawn up, Mr. Adams became its foremost 
defender on the floor of Congress. It was 
signed by all the fifty-five members present, 
and the ne.xt day Mr. Adams wrote to his 
wife how great a deed was done, and how 
proud he was of it. Mr. Adams continued 
to be the leading man of Congress, and 
the leading advocate of American inde- 
pendence. Above all other Americans, 
he was considered by every one the prin- 
cipal shining mark for British vengeance. 
Thus circumstanced, he was appointed to 
the most dangerous task of crossing the 
ocean in winter, exposed to capture b}- the 
British, who knew of his mission, which 
was to visit Paris and solicit the co-opera- 
tion of the French. Besides, to take him- 



self away from the country of which he 
was the most prominent defender, at that 
critical time, was an act of the greatest self- 
sacrifice. Sure enough, while crossing the 
sea, he had two very narrow escapes from 
capture ; and the transit was otherwise a 
storm}- and eventful one. During th' 
summer of 1779 he returned home, but was 
immediately dispatched back to France, to 
be in readiness there to negotiate terms of 
peace and commerce with Great Britain as 
soon as the latter power was ready for such 
business. But as Dr. Franklin was more 
[jopular than heat the court of France, Mr. 
Adams repaired to Holland, where he was 
far more successful as a diplomatist. 

The treaty of peace between the United 
States and England was finallv signed at 
Paris, Januar}' 21, 1783; and the re-action 
from so great excitement as Mr. Adams had 
so long been experiencing threw him into 
a dangerous fever. Before he fully re- 
covered he was in London, whence he was 
dispatched again to Amsterdam to negoti- 
ate another loan. Compliance with this 
order undermined his physical constitution 
for life. 

In 1785 Mr. Adams was appointed envoy 
to the court of St. James, to meet face to 
face the very king who had regarded him 
as an arch traitor ! Accordingly he re- 
paired thither, where he did actually meet 
and converse with George III.! After a 
residence there for about three years, he 
obtained permission to return to America. 
While in London he wrote and published 
an able work, in three volumes, entitled: 
" A Defense of the American Constitution." 

The Articles of Confederation proving 
inefficient, as Adams had pro[>hesied, a 
carefully draughted Constitution was 
adopted in 1789, when George Washington 
was elected President of the new nation, 
and Adams Vice-President. Congress met 
for a time in New York, but was removed 
to Philadelphia for ten years, until suitable 



■yOf/JV ADAMS. 



19 



buildings should be erected at the new 
capital in the District of Columbia. Mr. 
Adams then moved his family to Phila- 
delphia. Toward the close of his term of 
office the French Revolution culminated, 
when Adams and Washington rather 
sympathized with England, and Jefferson 
with France. The Presidential election of 
1796 resulted in giving Mr. Adams the first 
place by a small majority, and Mr. Jeffer- 
son the second place. 

Mr. Adams's administration was consci- 
entious, patriotic and able. The periorl 
was a turbulent one, and even an archangel 
could not have reconciled the hostile par- 
ties. Partisanism with reference to Eng- 
land and France was bitter, and for four 
years Mr. Adams struggled through almost 
a constant tempest of assaults. In fact, he 
was not truly a popular man, and his cha- 
grin at not receiving a re-election was so 
great that he did not even remain at Phila- 
delphia to witness the inauguration of Mr. 
Jefferson, his successor. The friendly 
intimacy between these two men was 
interrupted for about thirteen years of their 
life. Adams finally made the first advances 
toward a restoration of their mutual friend- 
ship, which were gratefull}' accepted by 
Jefferson. 

Mr. Adams was glad of his opportunity 
to retire to private lilc, where he could rest 
his mind and enjoy the comforts of home. 
By a thousand bitter experiences he found 
the path of public duty a tiiorny one. For 
twcnt\-si.\ years his service of the public 
was as arduous, self-sacrificing and devoted 
as ever fell to the lot of man. In one im- 
portant sense he was as much the " Father 
of his Country " as was Washington in 
another sense. During these long j'ears of 
anxiety and toil, in which he was laying. 
broad and deep, the foundations of the 



greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, he 
received from his impoverished country a 
meager support. The only privilege he 
carried with him into his retirement was 
that of franking his letters. 

Although taking no active part in public 
affairs, both himself and his son, John 
Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr. 
Jefferson in resisting the encroachments of 
England, who persisted in searching 
American ships on the iiigh seas and 
dragging from them any sailors that might 
be designated by any pert lieutenant as 
British subjects. Even for this noble sup- 
port Mr. Adams was maligned b}' thou- 
sands of bitter enemies ! On this occasion, 
for the first time since his retirement, he 
broke silence and drew up a very able 
paper, exposing the atrocity of the British 
pretensions. 

Mr. Adams outlived nearly all hisfamil3-. 
Though his ph3-sical frame began to give 
way many years before his death, his mental 
powers retained their strength and vigor to 
the last. In his ninetieth j^ear he was 
gladdened by the popular elevation of his 
son to the Presidential office, the highest in 
the gift of the people. A few months more 
passed away and the 4th of Julv, 1826, 
arrived. The people, unaware of the near 
approach of the end of two great lives — 
that of Adams and Jefferson — were makinar 
unusual preparations for a national holiday. 
Mr. Adams lay upon his couch, listening to 
the ringing of bells, the wafturcs of martial 
music and the roar of cannon, with silent 
emotion. Only four days before, he had 
given for a public toast, " Independence 
f(3rever." About two o'clock in the after- 
noon he said, "And Jefferson still survives." 
But he was mistaken by an hour or so; 
and in a few minutes he had breathed his 
last. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






fm^^^^^'^^'^^'^^M!f^^^\^^^^^m^'^m 





I^JpHOMAS JEFFER- 
_>. 11'^ son, the third Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1 801-9, ■^^'ss 
born April 2, 1743, 
the eldest child of 
liis parents, Peter 
and Jane (Randolph) Jef- 
ferson, near Charlottes- 
ville, Albemarle County, 
Virginia, upon the slopes 
ofthe Blue Ridge. When 
he -was fourteen years of 
age, his father died, leav- 
ing a widow and eight 
children. She was a beau- 
tiful and accomplished 
lady, a good letter-writer, with a fund of 
humor, and an admirable housekeeper. His 
parents belonged to the Church of England, 
and are said to be of Welch origin. But 
little is known of them, however. 

Thomas was naturally of a serious turn 
of mind, apt to learn, and a favorite at 
school, his choice studies bemg mathemat- 
ics and the classics. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered William and Mary College, 
in an advanced class, and lived in rather an 
expensive style, consequently being much 
caressed by gay society. That he was not 
ruined, is proof of his stamina of character. 
But during his second year he discarded 



society, his horses and even his favorite 
violin, and devoted thenceforward fifteen 
hours a day to hard study, becoming ex- 
traordinaril}' proficient in Latin and Greek 
authors. 

On leaving college, before he was twenty- 
one, he commenced the study of law, and 
pursued it diligently until he was well 
qualified for practice, upon which he 
entered in 1767. By this time he was also 
versed in French, Spanish, Italian and An- 
glo-Saxon, and in the criticism of the fine 
arts. Being very polite and polished in his 
manners, he won the friendship of all whom 
he met. Though able with his pen, he was 
not fluent in public speech. 

In 1769 he was chosen a member of the 
Virginia Legislature, and was the largest 
slave-holding member of that body. He 
introduced a bill empowering slave-holders 
to manumit their slaves, but it was rejected 
by an overwhelming vote. 

In 1770 Mr. Jefferson met with a great 
loss; his house at Shadwell was burned, 
and his valuable library of 2,000 volumes 
was consumed. But he was wealthy 
enough to replace the most of it, as from 
his 5,000 acres tilled by slaves and his 
practice at the bar his income amounted to 
about $5,000 a year. 

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, 
a beautiful, wealthy and accomplished 




<( 




"^/TZ^ 



THOMAS yEFFERSON. 



23 



young widow, who owned 40,000 acres of 
land and 130 slaves; yet he labored assidu- 
ously for the abolition of slaverj'. For his 
new home he selected a majestic rise of 
iand upon his large estate at Shadwell, 
called Monticello, whereon he erected a 
mansion of modest yet elegant architecture. 
Here he lived in luxury, indulging his taste 
in magniliccnt, high-blooded horses. 

At this period the British Government 
gradually became more insolent and op- 
pressive toward the American colonies, 
and Mr. Jefferson was ever one of the most 
foremost to resist its encroachments. From 
time to time he drew up resolutions of re- 
monstrance, which were finally adopted, 
thus proving his ability as-a statesman and 
as a leader. By the year 1774 he became 
quite busy, both with voice and pen, in de- 
fending the right of the colonies to defend 
themselves. His pamphlet entitled : " A 
Summary View of the Rights of British 
America," attracted much attention in Eng- 
land. The following year he, in company 
with George Washington, served as an ex- 
ecutive committee in measures to defend 
by arms the State of Virginia. As a Mem- 
ber of the Congress, he was not a speecii- 
maker, yet in conversation and up<^)n 
committees he was so frank and decisive 
that he always made a favorable impression. 
But as late as the autumn of 1775 he re- 
mained in hopes of reconciliation with the 
parent country. 

At length, however, the hour arrived for 
draughting the " Declaration of Indepen- 
dence," and this responsible task was de- 
volved upon Jefferson. Franklin, and 
Adams suggested a few verbal corrections 
before it was submitted to Congress, which 
was June 28, 1776, onl}' si.K days before it 
was adopted. During the three days of 
the fiery ordeal of criticism through which 
it passed in Congress, Mr. Jefferson opened 
not his lips. John Adams was the main 
champion of the Declaration on the floor 



of Congress. The signing of this document 
was one of the most solemn and momentous 
occasions ever attended to by man. Prayer 
and silence reigned throughout the hall, 
and each signer realized that if American 
independence was not finally sustained by 
arms he was doomed to the scaffold. 

After the colonies became independent 
States, Jefferson resigned for a time his seat 
in Congress in order to aid in organizing 
the government of Virginia, of which State 
he was chosen Governor in 1779, when he 
was thirty-six years of age. At this time 
the British had possession of Georgia and 
were invading South Carolina, and at one 
time a British officer, Tarleton, sent a 
secret expedition to Monticello to capture 
the Governor. Five minutes aftci" Mr. 
Jefferson escaped with his famil}-, his man- 
sion was in possession of the enemy ! The 
British troops also destroyed his valuable 
plantation on the James River. " Had they 
carried off the slaves," said Jefferson, with 
characteristic magnanimity, " to give them 
freedom, they would have done right." 

The year 1781 was a gloomy one for the 
Virginia Governor. While confined to his 
secluded home in the forest by a sick and 
dying wife, a party arose against him 
throughout the State, severely criticising 
his course as Governor. Being very sensi- 
tive to reproach, this touched him to the 
quick, and the heap of troubles then sur- 
roundmg him nearly crushed him. He re- 
solved, in despair, to retire from public life 
for the rest of his days. For weeks Mr. 
Jefferson sat lovingly, but with a crushed 
heart, at the bedside of his sick wife, during 
which time unfeeling letters were sent to 
him, accusing him of weakness and unfaith- 
fulness to duty. All this, after he had lost 
so much property and at the same time 
done so much for his country! After her 
death he actually fainted away, and re- 
mained so long insensible that it was feared 
he never would recover ! Several weeks 



PRES/DEVTS OF THE U.V/TED STATES. 



passed before he could fully recover his 
equilibrium. He was never married a 
second time. 

In the spring of 1782 the people of Eng- 
land compelled their king to make to the 
Americans overtures of peace, and in No- 
vember following, Mr. Jefferson was reap- 
pointed by Congress, unanimously and 
without a single adverse remark, minister 
plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty. 

In March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was ap- 
pointed on a committee to draught a plan 
for the government of the Northwestern 
Territory. His slavery-prohibition clause 
in that plan was stricken out by the pro- 
slavery majority of the committee; but amid 
all the controversies and wrangles of poli- 
ticians, he made it a rule never to contra- 
dict anybodv or engage in any discussion 
as a debater. 

In company with Mr. Adams and Dr. 
Franklin, Mr. Jefferson was appointed in 
May, 1784, to act as minister plenipotentiary 
in the negotiation of treaties of commerce 
with foreign nations. Accordingly, he went 
to Paris and satisfactorily accomplished his 
mission. The suavity and high bearing of 
his manner made all the French his friends; 
and even Mrs. Adams at one time wrote 
to her sister that he was " the chosen 
of the earth." But all the honors that 
he received, both at home and abroad, 
seemed to make no change in the simplicity 
of his republican tastes. On his return to 
America, he found two parties respecting 
the foreign commercial policy, Mr. Adams 
S3"mpathizing with that in favor of England 
and himself favoring France. 

On the inauguration of General Wash- 
ington as President, Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen by him for the office of Secretary of 
State. Ax. this time the rising storm of the 
French Revolution became visible, and 
Washington watched it with great anxiety. 
His cabinet was divided in their views of 
constitutional government as well as re- 



garding the issues in France. General 
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was 
the leader of the so-called Federal party, 
while Mr. Jefferson was the leader of the 
Republican party. At the same time there 
was a strong monarchical party in this 
country, with which Mr. Adams sympa- 
thized. Some important financial measures, 
which were proposed by Hamilton and 
finally adopted by the cabinet and approved 
b\' Washington, were opposed by Mr. 
Jefferson ; and his enemies then began to 
reproach him with holding office under an 
administration whose views he opposed. 
The President poured oil on the troubled 
waters. On his re-election to the Presi- 
dency he desired Mr. Jefferson to remain 
in the cabinet, but the latter sent in his 
resignation at two different times, probably 
because he was dissatisfied with some of 
the measures of the Government. His 
final one was not received until January i, 
1794, when General Washington parted 
from him with great regret. 

Jefferson then retired to his quiet home 
at Monticello, to enjoy a good rest, not even 
reading the newspapers lest the political 
gossip should disquiet him. On the Presi- 
dent's again calling him back to the office 
of Secretary of State, he replied that no 
circumstances would ever again tempt him 
to engage in an3-thing public! But, while 
all Europe was ablaze with war, and France 
in the throes of a bloody revolution and the 
principal theater of the conflict, a new 
PresidentiaJ election in this country came 
on. John Adams was the Federal candi- 
date and Mr. Jefferson became the Republi- 
can candidate. The result of the election 
was the promotion of the latter to the Vice- 
Presidency, while the former was chosen 
President. In this contest Mr. Jefferson 
really did not desire to have either office, 
he was " so weary " of party strife. He 
loved the retirement of home more than 
any other place on the earth. 



THOMAS JEFFE/fSON. 



25 



But for four long years his Vice-Presi- 
dency passed joylessly awa}', while the 
partisan strife between Federalist and Re- 
publican was ever growing hotter. The 
former party split and the result of the 
fourth general election was the elevation of 
Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency! with 
Aaron Burr as Vice-President. These men 
being at the head of a growing party, their 
election was hailed everywhere with joy. 
On the other iiand, man}- of the Federalists 
turned pale, as they believed what a portion 
of the pulpit and the press had been preach- 
ing — that Jefferson was a " scoffing atheist," 
a "Jacobin," the " incarnation of all evil," 
" breathing threatening and slaughter! " 

Mr. Jefferson's inaugural address con- 
tained notiiing but the noblest sentiments, 
expressed in tine language, and his personal 
behavior afterward exhibited the extreme 
of American, democratic simplicitv. His 
disgust of European court etiquette grew 
upon him with age. He believed that 
General Washington was somewhat dis- 
trustful of the ultimate success of a popular 
Government, and that, imbued with a little 
admiration of the forms of a monarchical 
Government, he had instituted levees, birth- 
days, pompous meetings with Congress, 
etc. Jefferson was always polite, even to 
slaves evervwherc he met them, ana carried 
in his countenance the indications of an ac- 
commodating disposition. 

The political principles of the Jeffersoni- 
an party now swept the country, and Mr. 
Jefferson himself swayed an influence which 
was never exceeded even by Washington. 
Under his administration, in 1803, the Lou- 
isiana purchase was made, for $15,000,000. 
the " Louisiana Territory " purchased com- 
prising all the land west of the Mississippi 
to the Pacific Ocean. 

The year 1804 witnessed another severe 
loss in his famil\-. His highl}- accomplished 
and most beloved daughter Maria sickened 
and died, causing as great grief in the 



stricken parent as it was possible for him to 
survive with any degree of sanity. 

The same year he was re-elected to the 
Presidency, with George Clinton as Vice- 
President. During his second term our 
relations with England became more com- 
plicated, and on June 22, 1807, near Hamp- 
ton • Roads, the United States frigate 
Chesapeake was fired upon by the Brit- 
ish man-of-war Leopard, and was made 
to surrender. Three men were killed and 
ten wounded. Jefferson demanded repara- 
tion. England grew insolent. It became 
evident that war was determined upon b}- 
the latter power. More than 1,200 Ameri- 
cans were forced into the British service 
upon the high seas. Before any satisfactory 
solution was reached, Mr. Jefferson's 
Presidential term closed. ^Vmid all these 
public excitements he thought constantly 
of the welfare of his family, and longed 
for the time when he could return home 
to remain. There, at Monticello, his sub- 
sequent life was very similar to that of 
Washington at Mt. Vernon. His hospi- 
tality toward his numerous friends, indul- 
gence of his slaves, and misfortunes to his 
property, etc., finally involved him in debt. 
For years his home resembled a fasiiion- 
able watering-place. During the summer, 
thirty-seven house servants were required! 
It was presided over by his daughter, Mrs. 
Randolph. 

Mr. Jefferson did much for the establish- 
ment of the University at Charlottesville, 
making it unsectarian, in keeping with the 
spirit of American institutions, but poverty 
and the feebleness of old age prevented 
him from doing what he would. He even 
went so far as to petition the Legislature 
for permission to dispose of some of his 
possessions by lottery, in order to raise the 
necessary funds for home expenses. It was 
granted; but before the plan was carried 
out, Mr. Jefferson died, July 4, 1826, at 
12:50 1'. M. 



2fi 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 







9"! 

:^^ AMES MADISON, the 

>; fourth President of the 
|^«* United States, iSog-'i/, 
d= was born at Port Con- 

■\'v way, Prince George 
;f.S* County, Virginia, March 
i6, 1751. His father. 
Colonel James Madison, was 
a wealthy planter, residing 
njion a very fine estate 
called " Montpelier," only 
twentv-five miles from the 
home of Thomas Jefferson 
at Monticello. The closest 
personal and political at- 
tacliment existed between 
these illustrious men from their early youth 
until death. 

James was the eldest of a family of seven 
children, four sons and three daughters, all 
of whom attained maturity. His early edu- 
cation was conducted mostly at home, 
under a private tutor. Being naturally in- 
tellectual in his tastes, he consecrated him- 
self with unusual vigor to study . At a very 
early age he made considerable proficiency 
in the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish 
languages. In 1769 he entered Princeton 
College, New Jersey, of which the illus- 
trious Dr. Weatherspoon was then Presi- 
dent. He graduated in 1771, with a char- 



acter of the utmost purity, and a mind 
highly disciplined and stored with all the 
learning which embellished and gave effi- 
ciency to his subsequent career. After 
graduating he pursued a course of reading 
for several months, under the guidance of 
President Weatherspoon, and in 1772 re- 
turned to Virginia, where he continued in 
incessant study for two years, nominally 
directed to the law, but really including 
extended researches in theology, philoso- 
phy and general literature. 

The Church of England was the estab- 
lished church in Virginia, invested with all 
the prerogatives and immunities which it 
enjoyed in the fatherland, and other de- 
nominations labored under serious disabili- 
ties, the enforcement of which was rightly 
or wrongly characterized by them as pei"- 
secution. Madison took a prominent stand 
in behalf of the removal of all disabilities, 
repeatedly appeared in the court of his own 
county to defend the Baptist nonconform- 
ists, and was elected from Orange County to 
the Virginia Convention in the spring of 
1766, when he signalized the beginning of 
his public career by procuring the passage 
of an amendment to the Declaration of 
Rights as prepared by George Mason, sub- 
stituting for "toleration" a more emphatic 
assertion of relisfious liberty. 



■%^ 





■ \ 



/ 



/. 



a.AU^'-^ ^^ (tc^<^ ^^^ 



JAMES MAD/SON. 



29 



III 1776 he was elected a member of the 
Virginia CDiiveiition to frame tlic Constitu- 
tion of the State. Like Jefferson, he took 
but little part in the public debates. His 
main strengtii lay in his conversational in- 
fluence and in his pen. In November, 1777, 
he was chosen a member of the Council of 
State, and in March, 1780, took his seat in 
the Continental Congress, where he first 
gained prominence through his energetic 
opposition to the issue of paper money by 
the States. He continued in Congress three 
years, one of its most active and influential 
members. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was elected a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Legislature. He ren- 
dered important service by promoting and 
participating in that revision of the statutes 
which effectually abolished the remnants of 
the feudal system subsistent uj) to that 
time in the form of entails, primogeniture, 
and State support given the Anglican 
Church ; and his " Memorial and Remon- 
strance" against a general assessment for 
the support of religion is one of the ablest 
papers which emanated from liis pen. It 
settled the question of the entire separation 
of church and State in Virginia. 

Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to 
the study and experience through which he 
had already passed : 

" Trained in these successive schools, he 
acquired a habit of self-possession which 
placed at ready command the rich resources 
of his luminous and discriminating mind and 
of his extensive information, and rendered 
him the first of every assembly of which he 
afterward became a member. Never wan- 
dering from his subject into vain declama- 
tion, but pursuing it closelv in language 
pure, classical and copious, soothing al- 
ways the feelings of his adversaries by civili- | 
ties and softness of expression, he rose to the 
eminent station whicli he held in the great 
Nscional Convention of 1787; and in that of 
Virginia, which followed, he sustained the [ 



new Constitution in all its parts, bearing off 
the palm against the logic of George Mason 
and the fervid declamation of Patrick 
Henry. With these consummate powers 
were united a pure and spotless virtue 
which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sully. Of the power and polish of his pen, 
and of the wisdom of his administration in 
the highest office of the nation, I need say 
nothing. They have spoken, and will for- 
ever speak, for themselves." 

In January, 1786, Mr. Madison took the 
initiative in proposing a meeting of State 
Commissioners to devise measures for more 
satisfactory commercial relations between 
the States. A meeting was held at An- 
napolis to discuss this subject, and but five 
States were represented. The convention 
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madi- 
son, urging all the States to send their dele- 
gates to Philadeljjhia, in May, 1787, to 
draught a Constitution for the United 
States. The delegates met at the time ap- 
pointed, every State except Rhode Island 
being represented. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention, 
and the present Constitution of the United 
States was then and there formed. There 
was no mind and no pen more active in 
framing this immortal document than the 
mind and pen of James Madison. He was, 
perhaps, its ablest advocate in the pages of 
the Federalist- 

Mr. Madison was a member of the first 
four Congresses, i789-'97, in which he main- 
tained a moderate opposition to Hamilton's 
financial policy. He declined the mission 
to France and the Secretaryshij) of vState, 
and, gradually identifying himself with the 
Rei)uhlicaii party, became from 1792 its 
avowed leader. In 1796 he was its choice 
for the Presidency as successor to Wash- 
ington. Mr. Jefferson wrote: "There is 
not another person in the United States 
with whom, being placed at the helm of our 
affairs, my mind would be so completely at 



30 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 



rest for the fortune of our political bark." 
But Mr. Madisoti declined to be a candi- 
aate. His term in Congress had expired, 
and he returned from New York to his 
beautiful retreat at Montpelier. 

In 1794 Mr. Madison married a young 
widow of remarkable powers of fascination 
— Mrs. Todd. Her maiden name was Doro- 
thy Paine. She was born in 1767, in Vir- 
ginia, of Quaker parents, and had been 
educated in the strictest rules of that sect. 
When but eighteen years of age she married 
a young lawyer and moved to Philadelphia, 
where she was introduced to brilliant scenes 
of fashionable life. She speedily laid aside 
the dress and address of the Quakeress, and 
became one of the most fascinating ladies 
of the republican court. In New York, 
alter the death of her husband, she was the 
belle of the season and was surrounded with 
admirers. Mr. Madison won the prize. 
She proved an invaluable helpmate. In 
Washington she was the life of society. 
If there was any diffident, timid young 
girl just making her appearance, she 
found in Mrs. Madison an encouraging 
Iriend. 

During the stormy administration of John 
Adams Madison remained in private life, 
but was the author of the celebrated " Reso- 
lutions of 1798," adopted by the Virginia 
Legislature, in condemnation of the Alien 
and Sedition laws, as well as of the " report" 
in which he defended those resolutions, 
which is, by many, considered his ablest 
State paper. 

The storm passed away ; the Alien and 
Sedition laws were repealed, John Adams 
lost his re-election, and in 1801 Thomas Jef- 
ferson was chosen President. The great re- 
action in public sentiment which seated 
Jefferson in the presidential chair was large- 
ly owing to the writings of Madison, who 
was consequently well entitled to the post 
of Secretary of State. With great ability 
he discharged the duties of this responsible 



office during the eight years of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's administration. 

As Mr. Jefferson was a widower, and 
neither of his daughters could be often with 
him, Mrs. Madison usually presided over 
the festivities of the White House; and as 
her husband succeeded Mr. Jefferson, hold- 
ing his office for two terms, this remarkable 
woman was the mistress of the presidential 
mansion for sixteen years. 

Mr. Madison being entirely engrossed by 
the cares of his office, all the duties of so- 
cial life devolved upon his accomplished 
wife. Never were such responsibilities 
more ably discharged. The most bitter 
foes of her husband and of the administra- 
tion were received with the frankly prof- 
fered hand and the cordial smile of wel- 
come; and the influence of this gentle 
woman in allaving the bitterness of party 
rancor became a great and salutarv power 
in the nation. 

As the term of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency 
drew near its close, party strife was roused 
to the utmost to elect his successor. It was 
a death-grapple between the two great 
parties, the Federal and Republican. Mr. 
Madison was chosen President by an elec- 
toral vote of 122 to 53, and was inaugurated 
March 4, 1809, at a critical period, wiien 
the relations of the United States with Great 
Britain were becoming embittered, and his 
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, 
aggravated by the act of non-intercourse of 
May, 1810, and finally resulting in a decla- 
ration of war. 

On the i8th of June, 181 2, President 
Madison gave his approval to an act of 
Congress declaring war against Great Brit- 
ain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostilit)' 
of the Federal party to the war, the country 
in general approved ; and in the autumn 
Madison was re-elected to the Presidency 
by 128 electoral votes to 89 in favor of 
George Clinton. 

March 4, 181 7, Madison yielded the Presi- 



y.iMES MADfSON. 



3' 



dency to his Secretary of State and inti- 
mate friend, James Monroe, and retired to 
his ancestral estate at Montpelier, where he 
passed the evening of his days surrounded 
bv attaciied friends and enjo\dng the 
merited respect of the whole nation. He 
took pleasure in promoting agriculture, as 
president of the county society, and in 
watching the development of the University 
of Virginia, of which he was long rector and 
visitor. In extreme old age he sat in 1829 
as a member of the convention called to re- 
form the Virginia Constitution, where his 
appearance was hailed with the most gen- 
uine interest and satisfaction, though he 
was too infirm :o participate in the active 
work of revision. Small in stature, slender 
and delicate in form, with a countenance 
full of intelligence, and expressive alike of 
mildness and dignity, he attracted the atten- 
tion of all who attended the convention, 
and was treated with the utmost deference. 
He seldom addressed the assembly, though 
he always appeared self-possessed, and 
watched with unflagging interest the prog- 
ress of every measure. Though the con- 
vention sat sixteen weeks, he spoke only 
twice; but when he did speak, the whole 
house paused to listen. His voice was 
feeble though his enunciation was very dis- 
tinct. One of the reporters, Mr. Stansburv, 
relates the following anecdote of Mr. Madi- 
son's last speech: 

" The next daj', as there was a great call 
for it, and the report had not been returned 
for publication, 1 sent mv son with a re- 
spectful note, requesting the manuscript. 
.My son was a lad of sixteen, whom 1 had 
taken with me to act as amanuensis. On 
delivering my note, he was received with 
the utmost politeness, and requested to 
come up into Mr. Madison's room and wait 
while his eye ran over the paper, as com- ! 
pany had prevented his attending to it. He 
did so, and Mr. Madison sat down to correct 
the report. The lad stood near him so that 



his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a 
certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison 
erased a word and substituted another ; but 
hesitated, and not feeling satisfied with the 
second word, drew his pen through it also. 
My son was young, ignorant of the world, 
and unconscious of the solecism of which he 
was about to be guilt}-, when, in all simplic- 
ity, he suggested a word. Probably no 
other person then living would have taken 
such a liberty. But the sage, instead of 
reoarding such an intrusion with a frown, 
raised his eyes to the boy's face with a 
pleased surprise, and said, ' Thank you, sir ; 
it is the very word,' and immcdiatelv in- 
serted it. I saw him the next day, and he 
mentioned the circumstance, with a compli- 
ment on the 3'oung critic." 

Mr. Madison died at Montpelier, June 28, 
1836, at the advanced age of eighty-five. 
While not possessing the highest order of 
talent, and deficient in oratorical powers, 
he was pre-eminently a statesman, of a well- 
balanced mind. His attainments were solid, 
his knowledge copious, his judgment gener- 
ally sound, his powers of anal3-sis and logi- 
cal statement rarely surpassed, his language 
and literary style correct and polished, his 
conversation witty, his temperament san- 
guine and trusfful, his integrit}' unques- 
tioned, his manners simple, courteous and 
winning. By these rare qualities he con- 
ciliated the esteem not onlv ol friends, but 
of political opponents, in a greater degree 
than any American statesman in the present 
century. 

Mrs. Madison survived her husband thir- 
teen years, and died Jul)- 12, 1849, "^ '^'''^ 
eighty -second year of her age. She was one 
of the most remarkable women our coun- 
try has produced. Even now she is ad- 
miringly remembered in Washington as 
" Doll}- Madison," and it is fitting that her 
memory should descend to posterity in 
company with thatof the companion of 
her life. 



PNES/DEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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r-^'^'fe^ * -^^^ES MONROE, the fifth 



W^Vi 




President of the United 
States, i8i7-'25, was born 
in Westmoreland County 
Virginia, April 28, 1758. 
He was a son of Speiice 
Monroe, and a descendant 
of a Scottish cavalier fam- 
ily. Like all his predeces- 
sors thus far in the Presi- 
dential chair, he enjoyed all 
the advantages of educa- 
tion which the country 
could then afford. He was 
early sent to a fine classical 
school, and at the age of six- 
teen entered William and Mary College.. 
In 1776, when he had been in college but 
two years, the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, and our feeble militia, with- 
out arms, amunition or clothing, were strug- 
gling against the trained armies of England. 
James Monroe left college, hastened to 
General Washington's headquarters at New 
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the 
army. 

At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so dis- 
tinguished himself, receiving a wound in his 
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Cap- 
taincy. Upon recovering from his wound, 
he was invited to act as aide to Lord Ster- 
ling, and in that capacity he took an active 
part in the battles of Brandywine, Ger- 
mantownand Monmouth. At Germantown 



he stood by the side of Lafayette when the 
French Marquis received his wound. Gen- 
eral Washington, who had formed a high 
idea of young Monroe's ability, sent him to 
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which 
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was 
Virginia at that time tiiat the effort proved 
unsuccessful. He, however, received his 
commission. 

Finding no opportunity to enter the army 
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his 
original plan of studying law, and entered 
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was 
then Governor of Virginia. He developed 
a very noble character, frank, manly and 
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him: 

"James Monroe is so perfectl}' honest 
that if his soul were turned inside out there 
would not be found a spot on it." 

In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly 
of Virginia, and was also appointed a mem- 
ber of the Executive Council. The next 
year he was chosen delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress for a term of three years. 
He was present at Annapolis when Wash- 
ington surrendered his commission of Com- 
mander-in-chief. 

With Washington, Jefferson and Madison 
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old 
Articles of Confederation, and urged the 
formation of a new Constitution, which 
should invest the Central Government with 
something like national power. Influenced 
by these views, he introduced a resolution 





^ / 



yAMES MONROE. 



35 



that Congress should be empowered to 
regulate trade, and to lav an impost dut}' 
')f five per cent. The resolution was refer- 
red to a committee of which he was chair- 
man. The report and the discussion which 
rose upon it led to the convention of five 
States at Annapolis, antl the consequent 
general convention at Philadelphia, which, 
in 1787, drafted the Constitution of the 
United States. 

At this time there was a controversy be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts in 
reference to their boundaries. The high 
esteem in which Colonel Monroe was held 
is indicated by the fact that he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges to decide the 
controvers}-. While in New York attend- 
ing Congress, he married Miss Kortright, 
a voung lady distinguished alike for her 
beautv and accomplishments. For nearly 
fiftv )'ears this hap]iv union remained un- 
broken. In London and in Paris, as in her 
own country, Mrs. Monroe won admiration 
and affection by the loveliness of her per- 
son, the brillianc}' of her intellect, and the 
amiabilit}' of her character. 

Returning to Virginia, Colonel Monroe 
commenced the practice of law at Freder- 
icksburg. He was ver)' soon elected to a 
seat in the State Legislature, and the next 
year he was chosen a member of the Vir- 
ginia convention which was assembled to 
decide upon the acceptance or rejection of 
the Constitution which had been drawn up 
at Philadelphia, and was now submitted 
to the several States. Deepl}' as he felt 
the imperfections of the old Confederacv, 
he was opposed to the new Constitution, 
thinking, with mam- others of the Republi- 
can partv, that it gave too much power to 
tiie Central Government, and not enough 
to the individual States. 

In 1789 he became a member of the 
United States Senate, which office he held 
acceptably to his constituents, and with 
honor to himself for four years. 



Having opposed the Constitution as not 
leaving enough power with the States, he, 
of course, became more and more identi- 
fied with tiie Republican party. Thus he 
found himself in cordial co-operation with 
Jefferson and Madison. The great Repub- 
lican party became the dominant power 
which ruled the land. 

Georere Washinsfton was then President. 
England had espoused the cause of the 
Bourbons against the principles of the 
French Revolution. President Washing- 
ton issued a proclamation of neutralit}' be- 

1 tween these contending powers. France 
had helped us in the struggle for our lib- 
erties. All the despotisms of Europe were 

' now combined to prevent the French 
from escaping from tyranny a thousandfold 
worse than that which we had endured. 
Colonel Monroe, more magnanimous than 
prudent, was anxious that we should help 
our old allies in their extremit}'. He vio- 
lently opposed the President's procla- 
mation as ungrateful and wanting in 
magnanimity. 

Washington, who could appreciate such 
a character, developed his calm, serene, 
almost divine greatness by appointing that 
very James Monroe, who was denouncing 
the polic}' of tire Government, as the Minis- 
ter of that Government to the republic of 
France. He was directed by Washington 
to express to the French people our warm- 
est sympathy, communicating to them cor- 
responding resolves approved by the Pres- 
ident, and adopted by both houses of 
Congress. 

Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the Na- 
tional Convention in France with the most 
enthusiastic demonstrations of respect and 
affection. He was publich' introduced to 
that body, and received the embrace of the 
President, Merlin de Douay, after having 
been addressed in a speech glowing with 
congratulations, and with expressions of 
desire that harmony might ever exist be- 



?6 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



tween the two nations. The flags of the 
two repubHcs were intertwined in the hall 
of the convention. Mr. Monroe presented 
the American colors, and received those of 
France in return. The course which he 
pursued in Paris was so anno)' ing to Eng- 
land and to the friends of England in 
this country that, near the close of Wash- 
ington's administration, Mr. Monroe, was 
recalled. 

After his return Colonel Monroe wrote a 
book of 400 pages, entitled " A View of the 
Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Af- 
fairs." In this work he very ably advo- 
cated his side of the question; but, with 
the magnanimity of the man, he recorded a 
warm tribute to the patriotism, ability and 
spotless integrity of John Jay, between 
whom and himself there was intense antag- 
onism ; and in subsequent years he ex- 
pressed in warmest terms his perfect 
veneration for the character of George 
Washington. 

Shortly after his return to this country 
Colonel Monroe was elected Governor of 
Virginia, and held that office for three 
years, the period limited by the Constitu- 
tion. In 1802 he was an Envoy to France, 
and to Spain in 1805, and was Minister to 
England in 1803. In 1806 he returned to 
his quiet home in Virginia, and with his 
wife and children and an ample competence 
from his paternal estate, enjoyed a few years 
of domestic repose. 

In 1809 ^^^- Jefferson's second term of 
office expired, and many of the Republican 
party were anxious to nominate James 
Monroe as his successor. The majority 
were in favor of Mr. Madison. Mr. Mon- 
roe withdrew his name and was soon after 
chosen a second time Governor of Virginia. 
He soon resigned that office to accept the 
position of Secretary of State, offered him 
by President Madison. The correspond- 
ence which he then carried on with the 
British Government demonstrated that 



there was no hope of any peaceful adjust- 
ment of our difficulties with the cabinet of 
St. James. War was consequently declared 
in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack 
of Washington the Secretary of War re- 
signed, and Mr. Monroe, at the earnest 
request of Mr. Madison, assumed the ad- 
ditional duties of the War Department, 
without resigning his position as Secretar}- 
of State. It has been confidently stated, 
that, had Mr. Monroe's energies been in the 
War Department a few months earlier, the 
disaster at Washington would not have 
occurred. 

The duties now devolving upon Mr. Mon- 
roe were extremely arduous. Ten thou- 
sand men, picked from the veteran armies 
of England, were sent with a powerful fleet 
to New Orleans to acquire possession of 
the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finan- 
ces were in the most deplorable condition. 
The treasury was exhausted and our credit 
gone. And vet it was necessary to make 
the most rigorous preparations to meet the 
foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Sec- 
retary of War, with virtue unsurpassed in 
Greek or Roman story, stepped forward 
and pledged his own individual credit as 
subsidiary to that of the nation, and thus 
succeeded in placing the city of New Or- 
leans in such a posture of defense, that it 
was enabled successful! v to repel the in- 
vader. 

Mr. Monroe was truly the armor-bearer 
of President Madison, and the most efficient 
business man in his cabinet. His energy 
in the double capacity of Secretary, both 
of State and War, pervaded all the depart- 
ments of the coimtry. He proposed to 
increase the army to 100,000 men, a meas- 
ure which he deemed absolutely necessary 
to save us from ignt)minious deteat, but 
which, at the same time, he knew would 
render his name so unpopular as to preclude 
the possibility of his being a successful can- 
didate for the Presidency. 



JAMES MONROE. 



yi 



The happy result of the conference at 
Ghent in securing peace rendered the in- 
crease of tlie army unnecessary; but it is not 
too much to say that James Monroe placed 
in the hands of Andrew Jackson the 
weapon with which to beat off the foe at 
New Orleans. Upon the return of peace 
Mr. Monroe resigned the department of 
war, devoting himself entirely to the duties 
of Secretary of State. These he continued 
to discharge until the close of President 
Madison's administration, with zeal which 
was never abated, and with an ardor of 
self-devotion which made him almost for- 
getful of the claims of fortune, health or 
life. 

Mr. Madison's second term expired in 
March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded 
to the Presidency. He was a candidate of 
the Republican party, now taking the name 
of the Democratic Republican. In 1821 he 
was re-elected, with scarcely any opposition. 
Out of 232 electoral votes, he received 231. 
The slavery question, which subsequently 
assumed such formidable dimensions, now 
began to make its appearance. The State 
of Missouri, which had been carved out of 
that immense territory which we had pur- 
chased of France, applied for admission to 
the Union, with a slavery Constitution. 
There were not a few who foresaw the 
evils impending. After the debate of a 
week it was decided that Missouri could 
not be admitted into the Union with slav- 
ery. This important question was at length 
settled by a compromise proposed by 
Henry Clay. 

The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which 
so much has been said, originated in this 
way: In 1823 it was rumored that the 
Holy Alliance was about to interfere to 
prevent the establishment of Republican 
liberty in the European colonies of South 
America. President Monroe wrote to his 
old friend Thomas Jefferson for advice in 
the emergency. In his reply under date of 



October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the 
supposition that our attempt to resist this 
European movement might lead to war: 

" Its object is to introduce and establish 
the American system of keeping out of our 
land all foreign powers; of never permitting 
those of Europe to intermeddle with the 
affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our 
own principle, not to depart from it." 

December 2, 1823, President Monroe 
sent a message to Congress, declaring it to 
be the policy of this Government not to 
entangle ourselves with the broils of Eu- 
rope, and not to allow Europe to interfere 
with the affairs of nations on the American 
continent; and the doctrine was announced, 
that any attempt on the part of the Euro- 
pean powers " to extend their .system to 
any portion of this hemisphere would be 
regarded by the United States as danger- 
ous to our peace and safety." 

March 4, 1825, Mr. Monroe surrendered 
the presidential chair to his Secretary of 
State, John Quinc}- Adams, and retired, 
with the universal respect of the nation, 
to his private residence at Oak Hill, Lou- 
doun County, Virginia. His time had been 
so entirely consecrated to his country, that 
he had neglected his pecuniary interests, 
and was deeply involved in debt. The 
welfare of his country had ever been up- 
permost in his mind. 

For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such 
feeble health that she rarely appeared in 
public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his 
residence with his son-in-law in New York, 
where he died on the 4th of July, 1831. 
The citizens of New York conducted his 
obsequies with pageants more imposing 
than had ever been witnessed there before. 
Our country will ever cherish his mem- 
ory with pride, gratefully enrolling his 
name in the list of its benefactors, pronounc- 
ing hmi the worthy successor of the illus- 
trious men who had preceded him in the 
presidential chair. 



js 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






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'OHN OUINCY ADAMS, 

the sixth President of the 
United States, 1825-9, 
was born in the rural 
home of his honored 
^>> father, John Adams, in 
Q u i n c y , Massachusetts, 
July 1 1, 1767. His mother, 
a woman of exalted worth, 
watched over his childhood 
during the almost constant 
absence of his father. He 
commenced his education 
at the village school, giving 
at an early period indica- 
tions of superior mental en- 
dowments. 

When eleven vears of age he sailed with 
his father for Europe, where the latter was 
associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister 
Plenipotentiar\'. The intelligence of John 
Quincy attracted the attention of these men 
and received from them flattering marks of 
attention. Mr. Adams had scarcelv returned 
to this country in 1779 ere he was again 
sent abroad, and John Quincy again accom- 
panied him. On this voyage he commenced 
a diary, which practice he continued, with 
but few interruptions, until his death. He 
journeyed with his father from Ferrol, in 
Spain, to Paris. Here he applied himself 
for six months to study; then accompanied 



his father to Holland, where he entered, 
first a school in Amsterdam, and then the 
University of Leyden. In 1781, when only 
fourteen years of age, he was selected bv 
Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Russian 
court, as his private secretarv. In tiiis 
school of incessant labor he spent fourteen 
months, and then returned alone to Holland 
through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
Bremen. Again he resumed his studies 
under a private tutor, at The Hague. 

In the spring of 1782 he accompanied his 
father to Paris, forming acquaintance with 
the most distinguished men on the Conti- 
nent. After a short visit to England, he re- 
turned to Paris and studied until May, 
1785, when he returned to America, leav- 
ing his father an embassador at the court 
of St. James. In 1786 he entered the jun- 
ior class in Harvard University, and grad- 
uated with the second honor of his class. 
The oration he delivered on this occasion, 
the " Importance of Public Faith to the 
Well-being of a Communitv," was pub- 
lished — an event very rare in this or any 
other land. 

Upon leaving college at the age of twenty 
he studied law three years with the Hon. 
Theophilus Parsons in Newburvport. In 
1790 he opened a law office in Boston. The 
profession was crowded with able men, and 
the fees were small. The first 3^ear he had 




J, 2 . cAL^l/Hv-i 



JOHN ^UINCr ADAMS. 



no clients, but not a moment was lost. The 
second year jjassed a\va\-, still no clients, 
and still he was dependent upon his parents 
for support. Anxiously he awaited the 
third year. The reward now came. Cli- 
ents began to enter his office, and before 
the end of the year he was so crowded 
with business that all solicitude respecting 
a support was at an end. 

When Great Britain commenced war 
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote 
some articles, urging entire neutrality on 
the part of the United States. The view 
was not a popular one. Many felt that as 
France had helped us, we were bound to 
help France. But President Washington 
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his 
proclamation of neutrality. His writings 
at tills time in the Boston journals gave 
him so higli a reputation, that in June, 
1794, he was appointed by Washington 
resident Minister at the Netherlands. In 
July, 1797, he left The Hague to go to Port- 
ugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. Wash- 
ington at this time wrote to his father, John 
Adams: 

" Without intending to compliment the 
father or the mother, or to censure any 
others, I give it as my decided opinion, 
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable char- 
acter we have abroad; and there remains 
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the 
ablest of our diplomatic corps." 

On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival 
in London, he met with dispatches direct- 
ing him to the court of Berlin, hut request- 
ing him to remain in London until he should 
receive instructicjns. While waiting he 
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine John- 
son, to whom he had been previously en- 
gaged. Miss Johnson was a daughter of 
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul 
in London, and was a lady endowed with 
that beauty and those accomplishments 
which fitted her to move in the elevated 
sphere for which she was destined. 



In Jul}", 1799, haying fulfilled all the pur- 
poses of his mission, Mr. Adams returned. 
In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of 
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was 
elected Senator of the United States for six 
years from March 4, 1804. His reputation, 
his ability and his experience, placed him 
immediately among the most prominent 
and influential members of that body. He 
sustained the Government in its measures 
of resistance to the encroachments of Eng- 
land, destroying our commerce and insult- 
ing our flag. There was no man in America 
more familiar with the arrogance of the 
British court upon these points, and no 
one more resoKed to present a firm resist- 
ance. This course, so truly patriotic, and 
which scarcely a voice will now be found 
to condemn, alienated him from the Fed- 
eral party dominant in Boston, and sub- 
jected him to censure. 

In 1805 Mr. Adams was chosen professor 
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lect- 
ures at this place were subsequently pub- 
lished. In 1809 he was sent as Minister to 
Russia. He was one of the commissioners 
that negotiated the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain, signed December 24, 18 14, 
and he was appointed Minister to the court 
of St. James in 181 5. In 181 7 he became 
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet 
in which position he remained eight years. 
Few will now contradict the assertion that 
the duties of that office were never more 
ably discharged. Probably the most im- 
portant measure which Mr. Adams con- 
ducted was the purchase ol I'lorida from 
Spain for $5,000,000. 

The campaign of 1824 was an exciting 
one. Four candidates were in the field. 
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast, 
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John 
Ouincy Adams, eighty-four; William II. 
Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Cla}-, 
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by 
the people, the question went to the House 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 



of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the 
vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he 
was elected. 

The friends of all disappointed candidates 
now combined in a venomous assault upon 
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more dis- 
graceful in the past histor}^ of our country 
than the abuse which was poured in one 
uninterrupted stream upon this high- 
minded, upright, patriotic man. There was 
never an administration more pure in prin- 
ciples, more conscientiousl}^ devoted to the 
best interests of the countr}', than that of 
John Ouincy Adams; and never, perhaps, 
was there an administration more unscru- 
pulously assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat 
in the presidential chair resolved not to 
know any partisanship, but only to con- 
sult for the interests of the whole Republic, 

He refused to dismiss anv man from of- 
fice for his political views. If he was a faith- 
ful officer that was enough. Bitter must 
have been his disappointment to find that the 
Nation could not appreciate such conduct. 

Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was 
cold and repulsive; though with his per- 
sonal friends he was at times very genial. 
This chilling address very seriously de- 
tracted from his popularity. No one can 
read an impartial record of his administra- 
tion without admitting that a more noble 
example of uncompromising dignity can 
scarcely be found. It was stated publicly 
that Mr. Adams' administration was to be 
put down, " though it be as pure as the an- 
gels which stand at the right hand of the 
throne of God." Man}' of the active par- 
ticipants in these scenes lived to regret the 
course the}- 'pursued. Some j-ears after, 
Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, turn- 
ing to Mr. Adams, then a member of the 
House of Representatives, said: 

" Well do I remember the enthusiastic 
zeal with which we reproached the admin- 
istration of that gentleman, and the ardor 
and vehemence with which we labored to 



bring in another. For the share I had in 
these transactions, and it was not a small 
one, I hope God will forgive me, for I shall 
never forgive myself." 

March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from 
the Presidency and was succeeded by An- 
drew Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out 
of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun 
was elected Vice-President. The slavery 
question now began to assume pretentious 
magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
Ouincy, and pursued his studies with ima- 
bated zeal. But he was not long permitted 
to remain in retirement. In N )vcrnber, 
1830, he was elected to Congress. In this 
lie recognized the principle that it is honor- 
able for the General of yesterday to act as 
Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can ren- 
der service to his country. Deep as are 
our obligations to John Ouinc\- Adams for 
his services as embassador, as Secretary of 
State and as President; in his cnparity as 
legislator in the House of Represcii'i- 
tives, he conferred benefits upon our land 
which eclipsed all the rest, and which can 
never be over-estimated. 

For seventeen years, until his death, lie 
occupied the post of Representative, tow- 
ering above all his peers, ever ready to do 
brave battle for freedom, and winning the 
title of " the old man eloquent." Upon 
taking his seat in the House he announced 
that he should hold himself bound to no 
party. He was usually the first in his 
place in the morning, and the last to leave 
his seat in the evening. Not a measure 
could escape his scrutiny. The battle 
which he fought, almost singly, against the 
pro-slavery party in the Govennnent, was 
sublime in its moral daring and heroism. 
For persisting in presenting petitions for 
the abolition of slavery, he was threatened 
with indictment by the Grand Jury, with 
expulsion from the House, with assassina- 
tion; but no threats could intimidate him, 
and his final triumph was complete. 



JOHN ^UlNCr ADAMS. 



H3 



On one occasion Mr. Adams presented a 
petition, signed by several women, against 
the annexation of Texas for the purpose of 
cutting it up into slave States. Mr. How- 
ard, of Maryland, said that these women 
discredited not onlv themselves, but their 
section of the country, by turning from 
their domestic duties to the conflicts of po- 
litical life. 

"Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, 
" to have no opinions or actions on subjects 
relating to the general welfare? Where 
did the gentleman get his principle? Did 
he find it in sacred history, — in the language 
of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the 
noblest and sublime songs of triumph that 
ever met the human eye or ear? Did the 
gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom 
the children of Israel came up for judg- 
ment ? Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, 
who slew the dreaded enemy of her coun- 
trv ? Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her 
/>ftition saved her people and her coun- 
try ? 

" To go from sacred history to profane, 
does the gentleman there find it ' discredita- 
ble ' for women to take an interest in politi- 
cal affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan 
mother, who said to her son when going 
out to battle, ' Mv son, come back to me 
with thy shielfl, or upon thy shield ? ' Does 
he remember Cloelia and her hundred com- 
panions, who swam across the river unt^er 
a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena ? 
Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of 
the Gracchi ? Does he not remember Por- 
tia, the wife of Brutus and the daughter of 
Cato ? 

" To come to later periods, what says the 
history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ? 
To say nothing of Boadicea, the British 
heroine in the time of the Cassars, what 
name is more illustrious than that of Eliza- 
beth ? Or, if he will go to the continent, 
will he not find the names of Maria Theresa 
of Hungary, of the two Catherines of 



Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- 
troness of Columbus ? Did slic bring ' dis- 
credit ' on her sex b}' mingling in politics? " 

In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- 
lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists. 

In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented 
a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- 
liill, Massachusetts, i)ra3'ingfor a peaceable 
dissolution of the Union. The pro-slaverj^ 
party in Congress, who were then plotting 
the destruction of the Government, were 
aroused to a pretense of commotion such as 
even our .stormy hall of legislation has 
rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, 
finding that they probably would not be 
able to expel Mr. Adams from the House 
drew up a series of resolutions, which, if 
adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, 
equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had 
presented the petition, which was most re- 
spectfully worded, and had moved that it be 
referred to a committee instructed to re- 
port an answer, showing the reason why 
the prayer ought not to be granted. 

It was the 25th of January. The whole 
body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- 
ing together in the House, prepared to 
crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- 
ber, Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was 
appointed to read the resolutions, which 
accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of 
having insulted the Government, and of 
meriting expulsion; but for which deserved 
punishment, the House, in its great mcrcv, 
would substitute its severest censure. With 
the assumption of a very solemn and mag- 
isterial air, there being breathless silence in 
the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- 
fully prepared anathemas at his victim. 
Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- 
ery party against him. 

As soon as the resolutions were read, 
ever}' eye being fixed upon him, that bold 
old man, whose scattered locks were whit- 
ened by seventy-five ypars, casting a wither- 
ing glance in the direction of his assailants, 



44 



PBESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- 
pressed emotion, said: 

" In reply to this audacious, atrocious 
charge of high treason, I call for the read- 
ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration 
of Independence. Read it ! Read it ! and 
see what that says of the rights of a people 
to reform, to change, and to dissolve their 
Government.' 

The attitude, the manner, the tone, the 
words; the venerable old man, with flash- 
ing eye and flushed cheek, and whose very 
form seemed to expand under the inspiration 
of the occasion — all presented a scene over- 
flowing in its sublimity. There was breath- 
less silence as that paragraph was read, in 
defense of whose principles our fathers had 
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their 
sacred honor. It was a proud hour to INIr. 
Adams as thev were all compelled to listen 
to the words: 

" That, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; and that whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of those 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, 
laying its foundations on such principles 
and organizing its powers in such form 
as shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness." 

That one sentence routed and baffled the 



foe. The heroic old man looked around 
upon the audience, and thundered out, 
" Read that again ! " It was again read. 
Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated 
his defense in terms which even prejudiced 
minds could not resist. His discomfited 
assailants made several attempts to rally. 
After a conflict of eleven days they gave 
up vanquished and their resolution was ig- 
nominiously laid upon the table. 

In January, 1846, when seventy-eight 
years of age, he took part in the great de- 
bate on the Oregon question, displaying 
intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- 
racy of acquaintance with the subject that 
excited great admiration. 

On the 2istof Februar)', 1848, he roseon 
the floor of Congress with a paper in his 
hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly 
he fell, stricken b}^ paralysis, and was caught 
in the arms of those around him. F(jr a 
time he was senseless and was conveyed 
to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving 
consciousness he opened his eyes, looked 
calmlv around and said, " This is the end of 
earth." Then alter a moment's pause, he 
added, " I am content." These were his last 
words, and he soon breathed his last, in the 
apartment beneath the dome of the capitol 
— the theater of his labors and his triumphs. 
In the language of hymnology, he '' died at 
his post;" he " ceased at once to work and 
live." 



,.taiffil»::y^~. 




2^^^f^i:??^.f^^a:^:^:.^^^_,;^2^^ 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



47 







/^' Andrew jackson, 

the seventh President 





of the United States, 
i829-'37, was born at 
the Waxhaw Settle. 
■^ nient, Union Coun- 
j^ ty, North Carolina, 
March i6, 1767. His parents 
were Scotch-Irish, natives of 
Carrickfergus, who came to 
America in 1765, and settled 
on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- 
utary of the Catawba. His 
father, who was a poor farm 
laborer, died shortlv before An- 
drew's birth, when his mother removed to 
Waxhaw, where some relatives resided. 

Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- 
son have been preserved. His education 
was of the most limited kind, and he showed 
no fondness for books. He grew up to be a 
tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- 
led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from 
trousers too short for him, very fond of ath- 
letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. 
He was generous to the 3-ounger and 
weaker boj'S, but very irascible and over- 
bearing with his cquafs and superiors. He 
was profane — a vice in which he surpassed 
all other men. The character of his mother 



he revered; and it was not until after her 
death that his predominant vices gained 
full strength. 

In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, 
or Andy, as he was called, witii his brother 
Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- 
lutionary forces under General oumter, and 
was a witness of the lattcr's defeat at Hang- 
ing Rock. In the following year the 
brothers were made prisoners, and confined 
in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment 
from their captors, and being spectators of 
General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. 
Through their mother's exertions the boys 
were exchanged while suffering from small- 
pox. In two days Robert was dead, and 
And)' apparently dying. The strength of 
his constitution triumphed, and he regained 
health and vigor. 

As he was getting better, his mother 
heard the cry of anguish from the prison- 
ers whom the British held in Charleston, 
among: whom were the sons of her sisters. 
She hastened to their relief, was attacked 
by fever, died and was buried where her 
srrave could never be found. Thus Andrew 
Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was 
left alone in the world, without father, 
mother, sister or brother, and without one 
dollar which he could call his own. He 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored 
diligently for six months. But gradually, 
as health returned, he became more and 
more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He 
gambled, drank and was regarded as about 
the worst character that could be found. 

He now turned schoolmaster. He could 
teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- 
tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, 
it is possible he might have ventured to 
teach a little writing. But he soon began to 
think of a profession and decided to study 
law. With a very slender purse, and on 
the back of a very fine horse, he set out 
for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he 
entered the law office of Mr. McCay. 
Here he remained two years, professedly 
studying law. He is still remembered in 
traditions of Salisbury, which say: 

" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, 
rt)llicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- 
chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. 
He did not trouble the law-books much." 

Andrew was now, at the age of twenty, 
a tall 3'oung man, being over six feet in 
height. He was slender, remarkably grace- 
ful and dignified in his manners, an exquis- 
ite horseman, and developed, amidst his 
loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a 
vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was 
fiery in the extreme: but it was said of him 
that no man knew better than Andrew 
Jackson when to get angry and when not. 

In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, and 
two years later removed to Nashville, 
in what was then the western district of 
North Carolina, with the appointment of so- 
licitor, or public prosecutor. It was an of- 
fice of little honor, small emolument and 
great peril. Few men could be found to 
accept it. 

And now Andrew Jackson commenced 
vigorously to practice law. It was an im- 
portant part of his business to collect debts. 
It required nerve. During the first seven 
years of his residence in those wilds he 



traversed the almost pathless forest between 
Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of 
200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile In- 
dians were constantly on the watch, and a 
man was liable at any moment to be shot 
down in his own field. Andrew Jackson 
was just the man for this service — a wild, 
daring, rough backwoodsman. Dail}' he 
made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life. Boldlv, alone or with 
few companions, he traversed the forests, 
encountering all perils and triumphing 
over all. 

In I "go Tennessee became a Territory, 
and Jackson was appointed, b}^ President 
Washington, United States Attorney for 
the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs. 
Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John 
Donelson), whom he supposed to have been 
"divorced in that year by an act of the Leg- 
islature of Virginia. Two years after this 
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their 
great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just 
obtained a divorce in one of the courts of 
Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia 
Legislature was not final, but conditional. 
To remedy the irregularity as much as pos- 
sible, a new license was obtained and the 
marriage ceremony was again performed. 

It proved to be a marriage of rare f elic- 
it v- Probablv there never was a more 
affectionate union. However rough Mr. 
Jackson might have been abroad, he was 
always gentle and tender at home; and 
through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he 
treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chival- 
ric attention. 

Under the circumstances it was not un- 
natural that the facts in the case of this 
marriage were so misrepresented b}- oppo- 
nents in the political campaigns a quarter 
or a century later as to become the basis 
of serious charges against Jackson's moral- 
ity which, however, have been satisfactoriiv 
attested by abundant evidence. 

Jackson was untiring in his duties as 



A.VUHtW JACKSON. 



49 



United States Attorney, whicli clcniaiidetl 
frequent journeys throuj^h the wilderness 
anil exposed him to Indian hostilities. He 
acquired considerable property in land, and 
obtained sueh influence as to be chosen 
a member of the convention which framed 
the Constitution for the new State of Ten- 
nessee, in 1796, and in that year was elected 
its hrst Representative in Congress. Albert 
Gallatin thus describes the first appearance 
of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House: 

" A tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, 
with locks of hair hanging over his face and 
a cue down his back, tied with an eel skin; 
his dress singular, his manners and deport- 
ment those of a rough backwoodsman." 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the 
Democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. 
He admired Bonaparte, loved France and 
hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his 
seat. General Washington, whose second 
term of office was just expiring, delivered 
his last s[)cech to Congress. A committee 
drew up a complimentary address in reply. 
Andrew Jackson did not approve the ad- 
dress and was one of twelve who voted 
against it. 

Tennessee had fitted out an expedition 
against the Indians, contrary to the policy 
of the Government. A resolution was intro- 
duced that the National Government 
should pay the expenses. Jackson advo- 
cated it and it was carried. This rendered 
him very popular in Tennessee. A va- 
cancy chanced soon after to occur in the 
Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen 
United States Senator by the State of Ten- 
nessee. John Adams was then President 
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. 

In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennes- 
see, and resigned his seat in the Senate. 
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of that State, with a salary of 
$600. This office he held six years. It is 
said that his decisions, though sometimes 
ungrammatical, were generally right. He 



did iiol enji)\- his seat upon the bench, and 
renounced the dignit}^ in 1804. About 
this time he was chosen Major-General of 
militia, and lost the title of judge in that of 
General. 

When he retired from the Senate Cham- 
ber, he decided to tr}- his fortune through 
trade. He purchased a stock of goods in 
Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville, 
where he opened a store. He lived about 
thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of 
land of several thousand acres, mostly .un- 
cultivated. He used a small block-house 
for a store, from a narrow window of 
which he sold goods to the Indians. As he 
had an assistant his office as judge did not 
materially interfere with his business. 

As to slavery, born in the midst of it, the 
idea never seemed to enter his mind that it 
could be wrong. He eventually became 
an extensive slave owner, but he was one of 
the most humane and gentle of masters. 

In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from pol- 
itics and settled on a plantation which he 
called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He 
set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership 
and traded in New Orleans, making the 
voyage on flatboats. Through his hot tem- 
per he became involved in several quarrels 
and " affairs of honor," during this period, 
in one of which he was severely wounded, 
but had the misfortune to kill his opponent, 
Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair 
greatly injured General Jackson's popular- 
ity. The verdict then was, and continues 
to be, that General Jackson was outra- 
geously wrong. If he subsequently felt any 
remorse he never revealed it to anyone. 

In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nash- 
ville and been a guest of Jackson, with 
whom he corresponded on the subject of a 
war with Spain, which was anticipated and 
desired by them, as well as by the people 
of the Southwest generally. 

Burr repeated his visit in September, 
1806, when he engaged in the celebrated 



PREJIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



combinations which led to his trial for trea- 
son. He was warmly received by Jackson, 
at whose instance a public ball was given 
in his honor at Nashville, and contracted 
with the latter for boats and provisions. 
Early in 1807, when Burr had been pro- 
claimed a traitor by President Jefferson, 
volunteer forces for the Federal service 
were organized at Nashville under Jack- 
son's command; but his energy and activ- 
ity did not shield him from suspicions of 
connivance in the supposed treason. He 
was summoned to Richmond as a witness 
in Burr's trial, but was not called to the 
stand, probably because he was out-spoken 
in his partisanship. 

On the outbreak of the war with Great 
Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his serv- 
ices, and in January, 18 13, embarked for 
New Orleans at the head of the Tennessee 
contingent. In March he received an or- 
der to disband his forces; but in Septem- 
ber he again took the field, in the Creek 
war, and in conjunction with his former 
partner. Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the 
Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega, 
Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa. 

In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now ac- 
quired a national reputation, was appointed 
a Major-General of the United States army, 
and commenced a campaign against the 
British in Florida. He conducted the de- 
fense at Mobile, September 15, seized upon 
Pensacola, November 6, and inunediately 
transported the bulk of his troops to New 
Orleans, then threatened by a powerful 
naval force. Martial law was declared in 
Louisiana, the State militia was called to 
arms, engagements with the British were 
fought December 23 and 28, and after re-en- 
forcements had been received on both sides 
the famous victory of January 8, 1815, 
::rowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and 
made him the typical American hero of 
the first half of the nineteenth century. 

In i8i7-'i8 Jackson conducted the war 



against the Seminoles of Florida, during 
which he seized upon Pensacola and exe- 
cuted by courtmartial two British subjects, 

Arbuthnot and Ambrister acts which 

might easily have involved the United 
States in war both with Spain and Great 
Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted 
by the cession of Florida to the United 
States; and Jackson, who had escaped a 
trial for the Irregularity of his conduct 
only through a division of opinion in Mon- 
roe's cabinet, was appointed in 1821 Gov- 
ernor of the new Territory. Soon after he 
declined the appointment of minister to 
Mexico. 

In 1823 Jackson waselected to the United 
States Senate, and nominated by the Ten- 
nessee Legislature for the Presidency. This 
candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and 
even merryment, speedily became popular, 
and in 1824, when the stormy electoral can- 
vas resulted in the choice of John Quincy 
Adams by the House of Representatives, 
General Jackson received the largest popu- 
lar vote among the four candidates. 

In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected 
President over Adams after a campaign of 
unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1829, and at once removed 
from office all the incumbents belonging to 
the opposite party — a procedure new to 
American politics, but which naturally be- 
came a precedent. 

His first term was characterized by quar- 
rels between the Vice-President, Calhoun, 
and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, at- 
tended by a cabinet crisis originating in 
scandals connected with the name of Mrs. 
General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of 
War; by the beginning of his war upon the 
United States Bank, and by his vigorous 
action against the partisans of Calhoun, 
who, in South Carolina, threatened to 
nullify the acts of Congress, establishing a 
protective tariff. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1832 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



SI 



Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral 
votes, his competitor beiiii^ Mr. Clay, while 
Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-Masonic platform, 
received the vote of Vermont alone. In 
1833 President Jackson removed the Gov- 
ernment deposits from the United States 
bank, thereby incurring a vote of censure 
from the Senate, which was, however, ex- 
punged fouryears later. During this second 
term of office the Chcrokecs, Choctaws and 
Creeks were removed, not without diffi- 
culty, from Georgia, Alabama and Missis- 
sippi, to the Indian Territor\^; the National 
debt was extinguished; Arkansas and 
Michigan were admitted as States to the 
Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the 
anti-slavery agitation first acquired impor- 
tance; the Mormon delusion, which had 
organized in 1829, attained considerable 
proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the 
country experienced its greatest pecuniary 
panic. 

Railroads with locomotive projjulsion 
were introduced into America during Jack- 
son's first term, and had become an impor- 
tant element of national life before the 
close of his second term. For many rea- 
sons, therefore, the administration of Presi- 
dent Jackson formed an era in American 
history, political, social and industrial. 
He succeeded in effecting the election of 



his friend Van Buren as his successor, re- 
tired from the Presidency March 4, 1837, 
and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage 
until his death, which occurred June 8, 
1845. 

During his closing 3'ears he was a pro- 
fessed Christian and a member of the Pres- 
byterian church. No American of this 
century has been the subject of such oppo- 
site judgments. He was loved and hated 
with equal vehemence during his life, but 
at the present distance of time from his 
career, while opinions still vary as to the 
merits of his public acts, few of hiscountr}- 
mcn will question tiiat he was a warm- 
hearted, brave, patriotic, honest and sincere 
man. If his distinguishing qualities were 
not such as constitute statesmanship, in the 
highest sense, he at least never pretended 
to other merits than such as were written 
to his credit on the page of American his- 
tory — not attempting to disguise the de- 
merits which were equally legible. The 
majority of his countrymen accepted and 
honored him, in spite of all that calumny 
as well as truth could allege against him. 
His faults may therefore be truly said to 
have been those of his time; his magnifi- 
cent virtues may also, with the same jus- 
tice, be considered as typical of a state of 
society which has nearly passed away. 



52 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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ARTIN VAN BU- 
REN, the eighth 
Jsj/ President of the 
United States, 1837- 
'41, was born at Kin- 
derhook, New York, 
December 5, 1782. 
His ancestors were of Dutch 
origin, and were among the 
earHest emigrants from Hol- 
land to the banks of the 
Hudson. His father was a 
tavern-keeper, as well as a 
farmer, and a very decided 
Democrat. 
Martin commenced the study 
of law at the age of fourteen, and took an 
active part in politics before he had reached 
the age of twenty. In 1803 he commenced 
the practice of law in his native village. 
In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire 
town of his county, where he spent seven 
years, gaining strength by contending in 
the courts with some of the ablest men 
who have adorned the bar of his State. 
The heroic example of John Quincy Adams 
in retaining in office every faithful man, 
without regard to his political preferences, 
had been thoroughl}' repudiated by Gen- 
eral Jackson. The unfortunate principle 
was now fuUv established, that " to the 
victor belong the spoils." Still, this prin- 
ciple, to which Mr. Van Buren gave his ad- 



herence, was not devoid of inconveniences. 
When, subsequently, he attained power 
which placed vast patronage in his hands, 
he was heard to say: " I prefer an office 
that has no patronage. When I give a man 
an office I offend his disappointed competi- 
tors and their friends. Nor am I certain of 
gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for, 
in all probabilitv, he expected something 
better." 

In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was elected to 
the State Senate. In 1815 he was appointed 
Attorney-General, and in 1816 to the Senate 
a second time. In 18 18 there was a great 
split in the Democratic party in New York, 
and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in or- 
ganizing that portion of the party called 
the Albanv Regency, which is said to have 
swayed the destinies of the State for a 
quarter of a century. 

In 1 82 1 he was chosen a member of the 
convention for revising the State Constitu- 
tion, in which he advocated an extension of 
the franchise, but opposed universal suf- 
frage, and also favored the proposal that 
colored persons, in order to vote, should 
have freehold property to the amount of 
$250. In this year he was also elected to 
the United States Senate, and at the con- 
clusion of his term, in 1827, was re-elected, 
but resigned the following year, having 
been chosen Governor of the State. In 
March, 1829, he was appointed Secretary of 




O 7 7^1^^ l^-v^ /^ii^^-^t:.^ 



M Aim IV VAN BUR EN. 



55 



State by President Jackson, but resigned 
in April, 1831, and during the recess of 
Congress was appointed minister to Eng- 
land, whither he proceeded in September, 
but the Senate, when convened in Decem- 
ber, refused to ratify the appointment. 

In May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- 
nated as the Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President, and elected in the following 
November. May 26, 1836, he received the 
nomination to succeed General Jackson as 
President, and received 170 electoral votes, 
out of 283. 

Scarcely had he taken his seat in the 
Presidential chair when a financial panic 
swept over the land. Many attributed 
this to the war which General Jackson had 
waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to 
secure an almost exclusive specie currency. 
Nearly every bank in the country was com- 
pelled to suspend specie pa3-ment, and ruin 
pervaded all our great cities. Not less than 
254 houses failed in New York in one week. 
AH public works were brought to a stand, 
and there was a general state of disma}-. 
President Van Buren urged the adoption of 
the independent treasury system, which 
was twice passed in the Senate and defeated 
in the House, but fir.all)' became a law near 
the close of his r.dmir.istration. 

Another important measure was the pass- 
age of a pre-emption law, giving actual set- 
tlers the preference in the purchase of 
public lands. The question of slavery, also, 
now began to assume great prominence in 
national politics, and alter an elaborate 
anti-slavery speech bv Mr. Slade, of Ver- 
mont, in the House of Representatives, the 
Southern members withdrew for a separate 
consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South 
Carolina, proposed to declare it expedient 
that the Union should be dissolved ; but 
the matter was tided over bv the passage 
of a resolution that no petitions or papers 
relating to slavery should be in any way 
considered or acted upon. 



In the Presidential election oi 1840 Mr. 
Van Buren was nominated, without opposi- 
tion, as the Democratic candidate, William 
H. Harrison being the candidate of the 
Whig party. The Democrats carried only 
seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes 
onl)' sixty were for Mr. Van Buren, the re- 
maining 234 being for his opponent. The 
Whig popular majority, however, was not 
large, the elections in many of the States 
being very close. 

March 4, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired 
from the Presidency. From his fine estate 
at Lindenwald he still exerted a powerful 
influence upon the politics of the country. 
In 1844 he was again proposed as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, 
and a majority of the delegates of the 
nominating convention were in his favor ; 
but, owing to his opposition to the pro- 
posed annexation of Texas, he could not 
secure the requisite two-thirds vote. His 
name was at length withdrawn by his 
friends, and Mr. Polk received the nomina- 
tion, and was elected. 

In 1848 Mr. Cass was the regular Demo- 
cratic candidate. A schism, however, 
sprang up in the party, upon the question 
of the permission of slavery in the newly- 
acquired territor}^ and a portion of the 
part3% taking the name of " Frce-Soilers," 
nominated Mr. Van Buren. They drew 
away sufficient votes to secure the election 
of General Taylor, the Whig candidate. 
After this Mr. Van Buren retired to his es- 
tate at Kinderhook, where the remainder 
of his life was passed, with the exception of 
a European tour in 1853. He died at 
Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, at the age of 
eighty j-ears. 

Martin Van Buren was a great and good 
man, and no one will question his right to 
a high position among those who have 
been the successors of Washington in the 
faithful occupancy of tiie Presidential 
chair. 



56 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 





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WILLIAM HENRY HflRRISDN. I 

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L I A M HENRY 
HARRISON, the 
ninth President of 
the United States, 
I 84 I, was born 
February g, 1773, 
m Charles County, 
Virginia, at Berkeley, the resi- 
dence of his father. Governor 
Benjamin Harrison. He studied 
at Hampden, Sidney College, 
with a view of entering the med- 
ical profession. After graduation 
he went to Philadelphia to study 
medicine under the instruction of 
Dr. Rush. 
George Washington was then President 
'){ the United States. The Indians were 
committing fearful ravages on our North- 
western frontier. Young Harrison, either 
lured by the love of adventure, or moved 
by the sufferings of families exposed to the 
most horrible outrages, abandoned his med- 
ical studies and entered the army, having 
obtained a commission of ensign from Pres- 
ident Washington. The first duty assigned 
him was to take a train of pack-horses 
bound to Fort Hamilton, on the Miami 
River, about forty miles from Fort Wash- 
ington. He was soon promoted to the 



rank of Lieutenant, and joined the arm\^ 
which Washington had placed under the 
command of General Wayne to prosecute 
more vigorousl\' the war with the In- 
dians. Lieutenant Harrison received great 
commendation from his commanding offi- 
cer, and was promoted to the rank of 
Captain, and placed in command at Fort 
Washington, now Cincinnati, Ohio. 

About this time he married a daughter 
of John Clev^es Symmes, one of the fron- 
tiersmen who had established a thriving 
settlement on the bank of the Maumce. 

In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his 
commission in the armv and was appointed 
Secretar}^ of the Northwest Territory, and 
ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor, General St. 
Clair being then Governor of the Territory. 
At that time the law in reference to the 
disposal of the public lands was such that 
no one could purchase in tracts less than 
4,000 acres. Captain Harrison, in the 
face of violent opposition, succeeded in 
obtaining so much of a modification of 
this unjust law that the land was sold in 
alternate tracts of 640 and 320 acres. The 
Northwest Territory was then entitled 
to one delegate in Congress, and Cap- 
tain Harrison was chosen to fill that of- 
fice. In 1800 he was appointed Governor 




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WILLIAM HENRY HAIililSON. 



59 



of Indiana Territory and soon after of 
Upper Louisiana. He was also Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, and so well did he 
fulfill these duties that he was four times 
appointed to this office. During his admin- 
istration he effected thirteen treaties with 
the Indians, by which the United States 
acquired 60,000,000 acres of land. In 1S04 
he obtained a cession from the Indians of 
all the land between the Illinois River and 
the Mississippi. 

In 18 1 2 he was made Major-General of 
Kentucky militia and Brigadier-General 
in the arm\', with the command of the 
Northwest frontier. Ini<Si3he was made 
Majoi-Gcneral, and as such won much re- 
nown by the defense of Fort Meigs, and the 
battle of the Thames, Octobers, 1813. In 
1814 he left the arnn- and was employed in 
Indian affairs by the Government. 

In 1816 General Harrison was chosen a 
member of -the National House of Repre- 
sentatives to represent the district of Ohio. 
In the contest which preceded his election 
he was accused of corruption in respect to 
the commissariat of the army. Immedi- 
ateh' upon taking his seat, he called for an 
investigation of the charge. A committee 
was appointed, and his vindication was 
triumphant. A high compliment was paid 
to his patriotism, disinterestedness and 
devotion to the public service. For these 
services a gold medal was presented to him 
with the thanks of Congress. 

In i8ig he was elected to the Senate of 
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presiden- 
tial electors of that State, he gave his vote 
to Henry Clay. In the same year he was 
elected to the Senate of the United States. 
In 1828 he was appointed by President 
Adams minister plenipotentiary to Colom- 
bia, but was recalled by General Jackson 
immediately after the inauguration of the 
latter. 

Upon his return to the United States, 
General Harrison retired to his farm at 



North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, six- 
teen miles below Cincinnati, where for 
twelve years he was clerk of the County 
Court. He once owned a distillery, but 
perceiving the sad effects of whisky upon 
the surrounding population, he promptly 
abandoned his business at great pecuniarv 
sacrifice. 

In 1836 General Hairison was brought 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency. 
Van Buren was the administration candi- 
date; the opposite party could not unite, 
and four candidates were brought forward. 
General Harrison received sevent3'-three 
electoral votes without an)' general concert 
among his friends. The Democratic party 
triumphed and Mr. Van Buren was chosen 
President. In 1839 General Harrison was 
again nominated for the Presidency by the 
Whigs, at Harrisbuig, Penns3dvania, Mr. 
Van Buren being the Democratic candi- 
date. General Harrison received 234 elec- 
toral votes against sixty for his opponent. 
This election is memorable chiefly for the 
then extraordinary means employed during 
the canvass for popular votes. Mass meet- 
ings and processions were introduced, and 
the watchwords " log cabin " and " hard 
cider" were effectually used by the Whigs, 
and aroused a popular enthusiasm. 

x\ vast concourse of people attended his 
inauguration. His addiesson that occasion 
was in accordance with his antecedents, and 
gave great satisfaction. A short time after he 
took his seat, he was seized bv a pleurisv- 
fever, and after a few days of violent sick- 
ness, died April 4, just one short month after 
his inauguration. His death was universally 
resrarded as one of the greatest of National 
calamities. Never, since the death of 
Washington, were there, throughout one 
land, such demonstrations of sorrow. Not 
one single spot can be found to sully his 
fame; and through all ages Americans will 
pronounce with love and reverence the 
name of William Henr)- Harrison. 



6o 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 









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^*^"^-;p'^OHN TYLER, the tenth 
President of the United 
States, was born in 
Charles City County, 
Virginia, March 29, 1790. 
His father, Judge John 
T^der, possessed large 
landed estates in Virginia, 
and was one of the most 
distinguished men of his 
day, filling the offices of 
Speaker of the House of 
Delegates, Judge of the Su- 
preme Court and Governor 
of the State. 
At the early age of twelve 
young John entered William and Mar}- 
College, and graduated with honor when 
but seventeen )^ears old. He then closely 
applied himself to the study of law, and at 
nineteen years of age commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. When only twenty- 
one he was elected to a seat in the State 
Legislature. He acted with the Demo- 
cratic party and advocated the measures of 
Jefferson and Madison. For five years he 
was elected to the Legislature, receiving 
nearly the unanimous vote of his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age he was 
elected a member of Congress. He advo- 
cated a strict construction of the Constitu- 
tion and the most careful vis^ilance over 



State rights. He was soon compelled to 
resign his seat in Congress, owing to ill 
health, but afterward took his seat in the 
State Legislature, where he exerted a 
powerful influence in promoting public 
works of great utility. 

In 1825 Mr. Tyler was chosen Governor 
of his State — a high honor, for Virginia 
had many able men as competitors for 
the prize. His administration was signally 
a successful one. He urged forward inter- 
nal improvements and strove to remove 
sectional jealousies. His popularity secured 
his re-election. In 1827 he was elected 
United States Senator, and upon taking his 
seat joined the ranks of the opposition. He 
opposed the tariff, voted against the bank 
as unconstitutional, opposed all restrictions 
upon slavery, resisted all projects of inter- 
nal improvements by the General Govern- 
ment, avowed his sympathy with Mr. Cal- 
houn's views of nullification, and declared 
that General Jackson, by his opposition to 
the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles 
of the Democratic part}'. Such was Mr. 
Tyler's record in Congress. 

This hostility to Jackson caused Mr. 
Tyler's retirement from the Senate, after 
his election to a second term. He soon 
after removed to Williamsburg for the 
better education of his children, and again 
took his seat in the Legislature. 



11^ 





JCrJiyrc 





JOHN TYLER. 



63 



111 1839 he was sent to the National Con- 
venfion at Harrisburg to nominate a Presi- 
dent. General Harrison received a majority 
of votes, much to the disappointment of the 
South, who had wished for Henry Clay. 
In order to concil'ate the Southern Whigs, 
John Tyler was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent. Harrison and Tyler were inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1841. In one short month 
from that time President Harrison died, 
and Mr. Tyler, to his own surprise as well 
as that of the nation, found himself an 
occupant of the Presidential chair. His 
position was an exceedingly difficult one, 
as he was opposed to the main principles of 
the party which had brought him into 
power. General Harrison had selected a 
Whig cabinet. Sliould he retain tliem, and 
thus surround himself with councilors 
whose views were antagonistic to his own? 
or should he turn against the party that 
had elected him, and select a cabinet in 
harmony with himself? This was his fear- 
lul dilemma. 

President Tyler deserves more charity 
than he has received. He issued an address 
to the people, which gave general satisfac- 
tion. He retained the cabinet General 
Harrison had selected. His vetcj of a bill 
chartering a new national bank led to an 
open (piarrel with the party which elected 
him, and to a resignation of the entire 
cabinet, except Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State. 

President Tyler attempted to conciliate. 
He appointed a new cabinet, leaving out all 
strong party men, but the Whig members 
of Congress were not satisfied, and they 
published a manifesto September 13, break- 
ing off all political relations. The Demo- 
crats had a majority in the House ; the 
Whigs in the Senate. Mr. Webster soon 
found it necessary to resign, being forced 
out by the pressure of his Whig friends. 

April 12, 1844, President Tyler concluded, 
through Mr. Calhoun, a treaty for the an- 



nexation ol Texas, which was rejected by 
the Senate ; but he effected his object in the 
closing davs of his administration by the 
passage of the joint resolution of March i 

1845. 

He was nominated for the Presidency by 
an informal Democratic Convention, held 
at Baltimore in May, 1844, but soon with- 
drew from the canvass, perceiving that he 
had not gained the confidence of the Demo- 
crats at large. 

Mr. Tyler's administration was particu- 
larly imfortimate. No one was satisfied. 
Whijrs and Democrats alike assailed iiini. 
Situated as he was, it is more than can 
be expected of human nature that he 
should, in all cases, have acted in the wisest 
manner; but it will probably be the verdict 
of all candid men, in a careful review of his 
career, that John Tyler was placed in a 
position of such difficulty that he could not 
pursue any course which would not expose 
him to severe censure and denunciation. 

In 1813 Mr. Tvler married Letitia Chris- 
tian, who bore him three sons and three 
daughters, and died in Washington in 1842. 
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second mar- 
riage with Miss Julia Gardner, of New 
York. He lived in almost complete retire- 
ment from politics until February, i86i, 
when he was a member of the abortive 
" peace convention," held at Washington, 
and was chosen its President. Soon after 
he renounced his allegiance to the United 
States and was elected to the Confederate 
Congress. He died at Richmoiul, lanuary 
17, 1862, after a short illness. 

Unfortunately for his memor)- the name 
of John Tyler must forever be associated 
with all the misery of that terrible Re- 
bellion, whose cause he openly- espoused. 
It is with sorrow that history records that 
a President of the United States died while 
defending the flag of rebellion, which was 
arrayed against the national banner in 
deadly warfare. 



PNESIDENIS OF TUB UNITED STATES. 



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1^ 







/ ■ A M E S KNOX P O LK, i 1 



r 

5; the eleventh President of 
i^ the United States, 1845- 
''■ '49, was born in Meck- 

\^^ lenburg Count}-, North 
* Carohna, November 2, 
1795. He was the eldest 
son of a family of six sons 
and four daughters, and was 
a grand-nephew of Colonel 
Th<imas Polk, celebrated in 
connection with the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

In 1806 his father, Samuel 
Polk, emigrated with his fam- 
ih' two or three hundred miles west to the 
valley of the Duck River. He was a sur- 
veyor as well as farmer, and gradually in- 
creased in wealth until he became one of 
the leading men of the region. 

In the common schools James rapidlv be- 
came proficient in all the common branches 
of an English education. In 1813 he was 
sent to Murfreesboro Academy, and in the 
autumn of 1815 entered the sophomore class 
in the University of North Carolina, at 
Chapel Hill, graduating in 1818. After a 
short season of recreation he went to Nash- 
ville and entered the law office of Felix 
Grundv- As soon as he had his finished 



egal studies and been admitted to the bar, 
he returned to Columbia, the shire town of 
Maury Count}-, and opened an office. 

James K. Polk ever adhered to the polit- 
ical faith of his father, which was that of 
a Jeffersonian Republican. In 1823 he was 
elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. As 
a " strict constructionist," he did not think 
that the Constitution empowered the Gen- 
eral Government to carry on a system of 
internal improvements in the States, but 
deemed it important that it should have 
that power, and wished the Constitution 
amended that it might be conferred. Sub- 
sequently, however, he became alarmed lest 
the General Government become so strong 
as to undertake to interfere with slavery. 
He therefore gave all his influence to 
strengthen the State governments, and to 
check the growth of the central power. 

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss 
Mary Childress, of Rutherford County, Ten- 
nessee. Had some one then whispered to 
him that he was destined to become Presi- 
dent of the United States, and that he must 
select for his companion one who would 
adorn that distinguished station, he could 
not have made a more fitting choice. She 
was truly a lady of rare beautv and cidturc. 

In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk was chosen 
a member of Congress, and was continu 




'y;^' 



VCL 'iJ^o-'ii^i^ 




y.-l 1/A5 A'. POLK. 



57 



ously re-elected until 1839. He then wilh- 
dicw, only that he might accept the 
erubcrnatorial chair of his native State. 
He was a warm friend of General Jackson, 
who had been defeated in the electoral 
contest by John Quincy Adams. This 
latter gentleman had just taken his seat in 
the Presidential chair when Mr. Polk took 
Ills scat in the House of Representatives. 
He immediately united himself with the 
opponents of Mr. Adams, and was soon 
regarded as the leader of the Jackson party 
in the House. 

The four 3ears of Mr. Adams' adminis- 
tration passed away, and General Jackson 
took tne Presidential chair. .Mr. Polk had 
now become a man of grc:it influence in 
Congress, ann was chairman i)f its most 
important committee — that of Wa3's and 
Means. Eloquently he sustained General 
Jackson in all his measures — in his hostility 
to internal improvements, to the banks, and 
to the tariff. Eight 3'ears of General Jack- 
son's administration passed away, and the 
powers lie had wielded passed into the 
iiands of Martin Van Buren ; and still Mr. 
Polk remained in the House, the advocate 
of that type of Democrac}" which those 
distinguished men upheld. 

During five sessions of Congress Mr. 
Polk was speaker of the House. He per- 
formed his arduous duties to general satis- 
faction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to 
him was passed by the House as he with- 
drew, March 4, 1839. He was elected 
Governor by a large majority, and took 
the oath of office at Nashville, October 14, 
l^^39. He was a candidate for re-election 
in 1S41, but was defeated. In the mean- 
time a wondcrlnl revolution had swept 
overtlie countrv. W. H. Harrison, the Whig 
candidate, had been called to tiie Presiden- 
tial chair, and in Tennessee the Whig ticket 
had been carried by over 12,000 majorit\-. 
Under these circumstances Mr. Polk's suc- 
cess was hopeless. Still he canvassed the 



State witli his Whig competitor, Mr. Jones, 
traveling in the most friendly manner to- 
gether, often in the same carriage, and at 
one time sleeping in the same bed. Mr. 
Jones was elected by 3.000 majority. 

And now the question of the annexation 
of Te.\as to our countr}- agitated the whole 
land. When this question became national 
Mr. Polk, as the avowed champion of an- 
nexation, became the Presidential candidate 
of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic 
party, and George M. Dallas their candi- 
date for the ^"ice-Presidcncy. They were 
elected bv a large majority, and were in- 
augurated March 4, 1845. 

President Polk formed an able cabinet, 
consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J. 
Walker, William L. Marcy, George Ban- 
croft, Cave Johnson and John Y. Mason. 
The Oregon boundary question was settled, 
the Department of the Interior was created, 
the low tariff of 1846 was carried, the 
financial system of the Government was 
reorganized, the Mexican war was con- 
ducted, which resulted in the acquisition of 
California and New Mexico, and had far- 
reaching consequences upon the later fort- 
unes of the republic. Peace was made. 
We had wrested from Mexico territory 
equal to four times the empire of France, 
and five times that of Spain. In the prose- 
cution of this war we expended 20,000 
lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this 
money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico. 

Declining to seek a renomination, Mr. 
Polk retired from the Presidency March 4, 
1849, when he was succeeded bv General 
Zachary Taxhjr. He retired to N.ishville, 
and died there June 19, 1849, in the fifty- 
fourth year of his age. His funeral was at- 
tended the following day, in Nashville, with 
every demonstration of respect. He left 
no children. Without being possessed of 
extraordinary talent, Mr. Polk was a capable 
administrator of public affairs, and irre- 
proachable in private life. 



58 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 







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ACHARY TAY- 
LOR, the twelfth 
President of the 
United States, 
1 849-' 50, was born 
in Orange County, 
Virginia, Septem- 
ber 24, 17S4. His father, 
Richard Taylor, was Colo- 
nel of a Virginia regiment 
in the Revolutionary war, 
and removed to Kentucky 
in 1785 ; purchased a large 
•J? plantation near Louisville 

^ and became an influential cit- 
izen ; was a member of the convention that 
framed the Constitution of Kentucky; served 
in both branches of the Legislature ; was 
Collector of the port of Louisville under 
President Washington ; as a Presidential 
elector, voted for Jefferson, Madison, Mon- 
roe and Clay; died January 19,1829. 

Zachary remained on his father's planta- 
tion until 1808, in which year (May 3) he 
was appointed First Lieutenant in the 
Seventh Infantry, to fill a vacancy oc- 
casioned bv the death of his elder brother, 
Hancock. Up to this point he had received 
but a limited education. 

Joining his regiment at New Orleans, he 

I 



was attacked with yellow fever, with nearly 
fatal termination. In November, 1810, he 
was promoted to Captain, and in the sum- 
mer of 1812 he was in command of Fort 
Harrison, on the left bank of the Wabash 
River, near the present site of Terre Haute, 
his successful defense of which with but a 
handful of men against a large force of 
Indians which liad attacked him was one of 
the first marked miiitar}- achievements of 
the war. He was then brevetted Major, 
and in 1814 promoted to the full rank. 

During the remainder of the war Taylor 
was actively employed on the Western 
frontier. In the peace organization of 18 15 
he was retained as Captain, but soon after 
resigned and settled near Louisville. In 
May, 1 8 16, however, he re-entered the army 
as Major of the Third Infantry ; became 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eightii Infantry 
in 1 8 19, and in 1832 attained the Colonelcy 
of the First Infantry, of which lie had been 
Lieutenant-Colonel since 1821. On different 
occasions he had been called to Washington 
as member of a military board for organiz- 
ing the militia of the Union, and to aid the 
Government with his knowledge in the 
organization of the Indian Bureau, having 
for many years discharged the duties of 
Indian agent over large tracts of Western 




*> 



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II 



ZACHARr TATLGR. 



I 



country. He served through the Black 
Hawk war in 1832, and in 1837 was ordered 
to take command in Florida, then the scene 
of war with the Indians. 

In 1846 he was transferred to the com- 
mand of the Army of the Southwest, from 
which he was relieved the same3'ear at his 
own request. Subsequently he was sta- 
tioned on the Arkansas frontier at Forts 
Gibbon, vSmith and Jesup, which latter work 
had been built under his direction in 1822. 

May 28, 1845, he received a dispatch from 
the Secretary of War informing him of the 
receipt of information by the President 
" that Texas would shortly accede to the 
terms of annexation," in which event he 
was instructed to defend ami protect her 
from " foreign invasion and Indian incur- 
sions." He proceeded, upon the annexation 
of Texas, with about 1,500 men to Corpus 
Christi. where his force was increased to 
some 4,000. 

Taylor was brevetted Major-General May 
28, and a month later, June 29, 1S46, his full 
commission to that grade was issued. After 
needed rest and reinforcement, he advanced 
in .September on Monterey, which city ca- 
pitulated after three-days stubborn resist- 
ance. Here he took up his winter quarters. 
The plan for the invasion of Mexico, by 
way of Vera Cruz, with General Scott in 
command, was now determined upon by 
the Govenrment, and at the moment Taylor 
was about to resume active operations, he 
received orders to send the laiger part of 
his force to reinforce the army of General 
Scott at Vera Cruz. Though subsequently 
reinforced b) raw recruits, yet after pro- 
viding a garrison for Monterey and Saltillo 
he had but about 5,300 effective troops, of 
which but 500 or 600 were regulars. In 
this weakened condition, however, he was 
destined to achieve his greatest victory. 
Confidently relying upon his strength at 
Vera Cruz to resist the enemy for a long 
time, Santa Anna directed his entire armv 



against Taylor to overwliclin him, and then 
to return to oppose the advance of Scott's 
more formidable invasion. The battle of 
Buena Vista was fought February 22 and 
23, 1847. Taylor received the thanks of 
Congress and a gold medal, and " Old 
Rough and Ready," the sobricjuet given 
him in the army, became a household word. 
He remained in quiet possession of the 
Rio Grande Valley until November, when 
he returned to the United States. 

In the Whig convention which met at 
Philadelphia, June 7, 1848, Taylor was nomi- 
nated on the fourth ballot as candidate of 
the Whig party for President, over Henry 
Clay, General Scott and Daniel Webster. 
In November Ta3dor received a majority 
of electoral votes, and a popular vote of 
1,360,752, against 1,219,962 (or Cass and 
Butler, and 291,342 for Van Buren and 
Adams. General Taylor was inaugurated 
March 4, 1849. 

The free and slave States being then equal 
in number, the struggle for supremacy on 
the part of tlie leaders \n Congress was 
violent and bitter. In the summer of 1849 
California adopted in ccjuvention a Consti- 
tution prohibiting slavery within its borders. 
Taylor advocated the immediate admission 
of California with her Constitution, and the 
postponement of the question as to the other 
Territories until they could hold conven- 
tions and decide for themselves whether 
slavery should exist within their borders. 
This policy ultimately prevailed through 
the celebrated " Compromise Measures" of 
Henry Clay; but not during the life of the 
brave soldier and patriot statesman. July 
5 he was taken suddenly ill with a bilious 
fever, which proved fatal, his death occur- 
ring July 9, 1850. One of his daughters 
married Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, his Adju- 
tant-General and Chief of Staff in Florida 
and Mexico, and Private Secretary during 
his Presidency. Another daughter was 
married to Jefferson Davis. 



P/iES/DEl\?TS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



^^^ 



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■; r :■ ; ■; n t rxrvr. 7Trrr. . 1 1 . .m ;. ' iMn nw.. i li. n Wi n l i' ui ' f l'tTl' n ' r rt m - , ; , t - - 







ILLARD FILL- 
MORE, the thir- 
^' teenth President 
(if the United 
States, i85o-'3, was 
born in Summer 
Hill, Cayuga 
New York, Janu- 
1800. He was of 
New England ancestry, and 
his educational advantages 
were limited. He early 
learned the clothiers' trade, 
but spent all his leisure time 
in study. At nineteen years 
* of age he was induced by 
Judge Walter Wood to abandon his trade 
and commence the study of law. Upon 
learning that the young man was entirely 
destitute of means, he took him into his 
own office and loaned him such mone}' as 
he needed. That he might not be heavily 
burdened with debt, young Fillm.ore t*iught 
school during the winter months and in 
various other ways helped himself along. 
At the age of twenty-three he was ad- 
mitted to the Court of Common Pleas, and 
commenced the practice of his profession 
in the village of Aurora, situated on the 



eastern bank of the Cayuga Lake. In 1825 
he married Miss Abigail Powers, daughter 
of Rev. Lemuel Powers, a lady of great 
moral worth. In 1825 he took his seat in 
the House of Assembly of his native State, 
as Representative from Erie County, 
whither he had recently moved. 

Though he had never taken a very 
active part in politics his vote and his sym- 
pathies were with the Whig partv. The 
State was then Democratic, but his cour- 
tesy, ability and integrity won the respect 
of his associates. In 1832 he was elected 
to a seat in the United States Congress. 
At the close of his term he returned to his 
law practice, and in two years more he was 
again elected to Ccongress. 

He now began to have a national reputa- 
tion. His labors were very arduous. To 
draft resolutions in the committee room, 
and then to defend them against the most 
skillful opponents on the floor of the House 
requires readiness of mind, mental resources 
and skill in debate such as few possess. 
Weary with these exhausting labors, and 
pressed by the claims of his private affairs, 
Mr. Fillmore wrote a letter to his constitu- 
ents and declined to be a candidate for re- 
election. Notwithstanding this ccmmuni- 





(xX/^o-t^O t/c^1^!^^^-t-^r^^v 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



75 



cation his friends met in convention and 
renominated him by acclamation. Though 
gratified by this proof of their appreciation 
of his hibors he adhered to his resolve and 
returned to his home. 

In 1847 Mr. Fillmore was elected to the 
important office of comptroller of the State. 
In entering upon the very responsible duties 
which this situation demanded, it was nec- 
essary for him to abandon his profession, 
and he removed to the city of Albany. In 
this year, also, the Whigs were locjking 
around to find suitable candidates for the 
President and Vice-President at the ap- 
proaching election, and the names of Zach- 
ary Tajdor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying cry of the Whigs. On the 4th 
of March, 1849, General Taylor was inaug- 
urated President and Millard Fillmore 
Vice-President of the United States. 

The great question of slavery had as- 
sumed enormous proportions, and perme- 
ated every subject that was brought before 
Congress. It was evident that the strength 
of our institutions was to be severel}' tried. 
July 9, 1850, President Taylor died, and, by 
the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore 
became President of the United States. 
The agitated condition of the country 
brought questions of great delicacy before 
him. He was bound by his oath of office 
to execute the laws of the United States. 
One of these laws was understood to be, 
that if a slave, escaping from bondage, 
should reach a free State, the United States 
was bound to do its utmost to capture him 
and return him to his master. Most Chris- 
tian men loathed this law. President Fill- 
more felt bound by his oath rigidly to see 
it enforced. Slavery was organizing armies 
to invade Cuba as it had invaded Texas, 
and annex it to the United States. Presi- 
dent Fillmore gave all the influence of his 
exalted station against the atrocious enter- 
prise. 

.Mr. Fillmore had serious difficulties to 



contend with, since the opposition had a 
majority in both Houses". He did every- 
thing in his power to concihate the South, 
but the pro-slavery party in that section 
felt the inadequency of all measures of tran- 
sient conciliation. The population of the 
free States was so rapidly increasing over 
that of the slave States, that it was inevita- 
ble that the power of the Government 
should soon pass into the hands of the free 
States. The famous compromise measures 
were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's admin- 
istration, and the Japan expedition was 
sent out. 

March 4, 1853, having served one term. 
President Fillmore retired from office. He 
then took a long tour through the South, 
where he met with quite an enthusiastic 
reception. In a speech at Vicksburg, al- 
luding to the rapid growth of the country, 
he said: 

" Canada is knocking for admission, and 
Mexico would be glad to come in, and 
without saying whether it would be right 
or wrong, we stand with open arms to re- 
ceive them; for it is the manifest destiny of 
this Government to embrace the whole 
North American Cf)ntinent." 

In 1855 Mr. Fillmore went to Europe 
where he was received with those marked 
attentions which his position and character 
merited. Returning to this country in 
1856 he was nominated for the Presidency 
by the "Know-Nothing" party. Mr. Bu- 
chanan, the Democratic candidate was 
the successful competitor. Mr. Fillmore 
ever afterward lived in retirement. Dur- 
ing the conflict of civil war he was mostly 
silent. It was generally supposed, how- 
ever, that his sympathy was with the South- 
ern Confederacy. He kept aloof from the 
conflict without any words of cheer to the 
one party or the other. For this reason 
he was forgotten by both. He died of 
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, 
1874. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 







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RANKLIN PIERCE, 

the fourteenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, was born in 
Hillsborough, New 
Hampshire, Novem- 
ber 23, 1804. His 
father, Governor 
Benjamin Pierce, was a Rev- 
olutionary soldier, a man of 
rigid integrity ; was for sev- 
eral years in the State Legis- 
lature, a member of the Gov- 
^f ernor's council and a General 
of the militia. 
Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 
As a boy he listened eagerly to the argu- 
ments of his father, enforced by strong and 
ready utterance and earnest gesture. It 
was in the days of intense political excite- 
ment, when, all over the New England 
States, Federalists and Democrats were ar- 
rayed so fiercely against each other. 

In 1820 he entered Bowdoin College, at 
Brunswick, Maine, and graduated in 1824, 
and commenced the stud)' of law in the 
office of Judge Woodbur}', a very distin- 
guished lawyer, and in 1827 was admitted 
to the bar. He practiced with great success 
in Hillsborough and Concord. He served 



in the State Legislature four years, the last 
two of which he was chosen Speaker of the 
House by a very large vote. 

In 1833 he was elected a member of Con- 
gress. In 1837 he was elected to the United 
States Senate, just as INIr. Van Buren com- 
menced his administration. 

In 1834 he married Miss Jane Means 
Appleton, a lady admirably fitted to adorn 
every station with which her husband was 
honored. Three sons born to them all 
found an early grave. 

Upon his accession to office, President 
Polk appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-Gen- 
eral of the United States, but the offer was 
declined in consequence of numerous pro- 
fessional engagements at home and the 
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. 
About the same time he also declined the 
nomination for Governor by the Demo- 
cratic party. 

The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce 
into the arm}'. Receiving the appointment 
of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a 
portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode 
Island, May 27, 1847. He served during 
this war, and distinguished himself by his 
bravery, skill and excellent judgment. 
When he reached his home in his native 
State he was enthusiastically received by 




^.^W^c^fefe 




FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



79 



the advocates of the war, and coldly by its 
opponents. He resumed the practice of his 
profession, frequently taking an active part 
in political questions, and giving his sup- 
port to the pro-slavery wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

June 12, 1852, the Democratic convention 
met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate 
for the Presidency. For four days they 
continued in session, and in thirty-five bal- 
lotmgs no one had received the requisite 
two-thirds vote. Not a vote had been 
thrown thus far for General Pierce. Then 
the Virginia delegation brought forward 
his name. There were fourteen more bal- 
lotings, during which General Pierce 
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth 
ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other 
candidates eleven. General Winfield Scott 
was the Whig candidate. General Pierce 
was elected with great unanimity. Onlv 
four States — Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee — cast their electoral 
votes against him. March 4, 1853, he was 
inaugurated President of the United States, 
and William R. King, Vice-President. 

President Pierce's cabinet consisted of 
William S. Marc}', James Guthrie, Jefferson 
Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClel- 
land, James Campbell and Caleb Cushing. 

At the demand of slavery the Missouri 
Compromise was repealed, and all the Ter- 
ritories of the Union were thrown o[)en to 
slavery. The Territor}' of Kansas, west of 
Missouri, was settled by emigrants mainly 
from the North. According to law, they 
were about to meet and decide whether 
slavery or freedom should be the law of 
that realm. Slaver)- 111 .Missouri and 
other Southern States rallied her armed 
legions, marched them into Kansas, took 
possession of the polls, drove away the 
citizens, deposited their own votes by 
handfuls, went through the farce of count- 
ing them, and then declared that, by an 
overwhelming majority, slavery was estab- 



lished in Kansas. These . facts nobody 
denied, and yet President Pierce's adminis- 
tration felt bound to respect the decision 
obtained by such votes. The citizens of 
Kansas, the majority of whom were free- 
State men, met in convention and adopted 
the following resolve : 

"Resolved, That the body of men who, 
for the past two months, have been passing 
laws for the people of our Territory, 
moved, counseled and dictated to by the 
demagogues of other States, are to us a 
foreign body, representing only the lawless 
invaders who elected them, and not the 
people of this Territory ; that we repudiate 
their action as the monstrous consummation 
of an act of violence, usurpation and fraud 
unparalleled in the histor\' of the Union." 

The free-State people of Kansas also sent 
a petition to the General Government, im- 
ploring its protection. Iti reply the Presi- 
dent issued a proclamation, declaring that 
Legislature thus created must be recog- 
nized as the legitimate Legislature of Kan- 
sas, and that its laws were binding upon 
the people, and that, if necessar\-, the whole 
force of the Governmental arm would be 
put forth to inforce those laws. 

James Buchanan succeeded him in the 
Presidency, and, March 4, 1857, President 
Pierce retired to his home in Concord, 
New Hampshire. When the Rebellion 
burst forth Mr. Pierce remained steadfast 
to the principles he had always cherished, 
and gave his s\-mpathies to the jjro-slavery 
party, with which he had ever been allied. 
He declined to do anything, either by 
voice or pen, to strengthen the hands of 
the National Government. He resided in 
Concord until his death, which occurred in 
October, 1869. He was one of the most 
genial and social of men, generous to 
a fault, and contributed liberally of his 
moderate means for the alleviation of suf- 
fering and want. He was an honored 
communicant of the Episcopal church. 



So 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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'AMES BUCHANAN, the 

fifteenth President of the 
United States. i857-'6i, 
was born in Franklin 
County, Pennsylvania, 
April 23, 1791. The 
place where his father's 
c a b i n stood was called 
Stony Batter, and it was 
situated in a wild, romantic 
s[)Ot, in a gorge of mount- 
ains, with towering sum- 
mits rising all around. He 
was of Irish ancestry, his 
father having emigrated in- 
1783, with very little prop- 
erty, save his own strong arms. 

James remained in his secluded home for 
eight years enjoying very few social or 
intellectual advantages. His parents were 
industrious, frugal, prosperous and intelli- 
gent. In 1799 his father removed to Mer- 
cersburg, where James was placed in 
school and commenced a course in English, 
Greek and Latin. His progress was rapid 
and in 1801 he entered Dickinson College 
at Carlisle. Here he took his stand among 
the first scholars in the institution, and was 
able to master the most abstruse subjects 
with facility. In 1809 he graduated with 
the highest honors in his class. 

He was then eighteen 3'ears of age, tall, 



graceful and in vigorous health, fond of 
athletic sports, an unerring shot and en- 
livened with an exuberant flow of animal 
spirits. He immediately commenced the 
study of law in the city of Lancaster, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1812. He rose 
very rapidly in his profession and at once 
took undisputed stand with the ablest law- 
yers of the State. When but twenty-si.\ 
years of age, unaided bv counsel, he suc- 
cessfully defended before the State Senate 
one of the Judges of the State, who was 
tried upon articles of impeachment At 
the age of thirty it was generall}- admitted 
that he stood at the head of the bar, and 
there was no lawyer in the State who had 
a more extensive or lucrative practice. 

In 1812, just after Mr. Buchanan had 
entered upon the practice of the law, our 
second war with England occurred. With 
all his powers he sustained the Govern- 
ment, eloquently urging the rigorous pros- 
ecution of the war; and even enlisHng as a 
private soldier to assist in repelling the 
British, who had sacked Washington and 
were threatening Baltimore. He was at 
that time a Federalist, but when the Con- 
stitution was adopted by both parties, 
Jefferson trulv said, " We are all Federal- 
ists; we are all Republicans." 

The opposition of the Federalists to the 
war with England, and the alien and sedi- 




d 



yne^ 



^^^S^-'^i^ 



^^"Z-^Ss^?^^ 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



83 



tion laws of John Adams, brought the party 
into dispute, and the name of Federalist 
became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan almost 
immediately upon entering Congress began 
to incline more and more to the Repub- 
Hcans. In the stormy Presidential election 
of 1824, in which Jackson, Cla)', Crawford 
and John Ouincy Adams were candidates, 
Mr. Buchanan espoused the cause of Gen- 
eral Jackson and unrelentingly opposed the 
administration of Mr. Adams. 

Upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
General Jackson appointed Mr. Buchanan, 
minister to Russia. Upon his return in 1833 
he was elected to a seat in the United States 
Senate. He there met as his associates, 
Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He 
advocated the measures proposed by Presi- 
dent Jackson of making reprisals against 
France, and defended the course of the Pres- 
ident in his unprecedented and wholesale 
removals from office of those who were not 
the supporters of his administration. Upon 
this cjuestion he was brought mto direct col- 
lision with Henry Clay. In the discussion 
of the question respecting the admission of 
Michigan and Arkansas into the Union, Mr. 
Buchanan defined his position by saying: 

" The older I grow, the more I am in- 
clined to be what is called a State-rights 
man." 

M. de Tocqueville, in his renowned work 
upon " Democracy in America," foresaw 
the trouble which was inevitable from the 
doctrine of State sovereignty as held by 
Calhoun and Buchanan. He was con- 
vinced that the National Government was 
losing that strength which was essential 
to its own existence, and that the States 
were assiuning powers which threatened 
the perpetuit}- of the Union. Mr. Buchanan 
received the book in the Senate and de- 
clared the fears of De Tocqueville to be 
groundless, and yet he lived to sit in the 
Presidential chair and see State after State, 
in accordance with his own views of State 



rights, breaking from the Union, thus 
crumbling our Republic into ruins; while 
the unhappy old man folded his arms in 
despair, declaring that the National Consti- 
tution invested him with no power to arrest 
the destruction. 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presi- 
dency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of 
State, and as such took his share of the 
responsibility in the conduct of the Mexi- 
can war. At the close of Mr. Polk's ad- 
ministration, Mr. Buchanan retired to pri- 
vate life; but his intelligence, and his great 
abilit)^ as a statesman, enabled him to exert 
a powerful influence in National affairs. 

Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the 
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with 
the mission to England. In the year 1856 
the National Democratic convention nomi- 
nated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. 
The political conflict was one of the most 
severe in which our country has ever en- 
gaged. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. 
Buchanan was inaugurated President. His 
cabinet were Lewis Cass, Howell Cobb, 
J. B. Floyd, Isaac Toucey, Jacob Thomp- 
son, A. V. Brown and J. S. Black. 

The disruption of the Democratic party, 
in consequence of the manner in which the 
issue of the nationality of slavery was 
pressed by the Southern wing, occurred at 
the National convention, held at Charleston 
in April, i860, for the nomination of Mr. 
Buchanan's successor, when the majority 
of Southern delegates withdrew upon the 
passage of a resolution declaring that the 
constitutional status of slavery should be 
determined by the Supreme Court. 

In the next Presidential canvass Abra- 
ham Lincoln was nominated by the oppo- 
nents of Mr. Buchanan's administration. 
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washington 
long enough to see his successor installed 
and then retired to his home in Wheatland. 
He died June i, 1868, aged seventy-seven 
years. 



S4 



PRBSIDEIVTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 








BRAHAM LIN- 
COLN, the sixteenth 
President of the 
United States, i86i-'5, 
was born February 
12, 1809, in Larue 
(then Hardin) County, 
Kentucky, in a cabin on Nolan 
Creek, three miles west of 
Hudgensville. H i s parents 
were Thomas and Nancy 
(Hanks) Lincoln. Of his an- 
cestry and early years the little 
that is known may best be 
given in his own language : " My 
parents were both born in Virginia, of un- 
distinguished families — second families, per- 
haps I should say. My mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family of the 
name of Hanks, some of whom now remain 
in Adams, and others in Macon County, 
Illinois. My paterna' grandfather, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockbridge 
County, Virginia, to Kentucky in 1781 or 
1782, where, a year or two later, he was 
killed by Indians — not in battle, but by 
stealth, when he was laboring to open a 
farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks 
County, Pennsylvania. An effort to iden- 



^ tify them with the New England family of 
the same name ended in nothing more defi- 
nite than a similarity of Christian names in 
both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mor- 
decai, Solomon, Abraham and the like. 
M}^ father, at the death of his father, was 
but six 3-ears of age, and he grew up, liter- 
ally, without education. He removed from 
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, 
Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached 
our new home about the time the State came 
into the Union. It was a wild region, with 
bears and other wild animals stili in the 
woods. There I grew to manhood. 

" There were some schools, so called, but 
no qualification was ever required of a 
teacher beyond ' readin", writin', and cipher- 
in' to the rule of three.' If a straggler, sup- 
posed to understand Latin, happened to 
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked 
upon as a wizard. There was absolutely 
nothing to excite ambition for education. 
Of course, when I came of age I did not 
know much. Still, somehow, I could read, 
write and cipher to the rule of three, and 
that was all. I have not been to school 
since. The little advance I now have upon 
this store of education I have picked up 
from time to time under the pressure of 
necessity. I was raised to farm-work, which 




/^ 




^9-r 



Qy^/f'oL*-^ ^C^-i>Cy^ 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



87 



I coiitiiiuccl till 1 was twenty-two. At 
twcntv-one I came to Illinois and passed 
the first year in Macon County. Then I got 
to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, 
now in Menard County, where I remained 
a year as a sort of clerk in a store. 

" Then came the Black Hawk war, and 1 
was elected a Captain of volunteers — a suc- 
cess which gave me more pleasure than any 
I have had since. I went the campaign, 
was elated ; ran for the Legislature the 
same year (1832) and was beaten, the only 
time I have ever been beaten by the people. 
The next and three succeeding biennial 
elections I was elected to the Legislature, 
and was never a candidate afterward. 

" During this legislative period I had 
studied law, and removed to Springfield to 
practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the 
Lower House of Congress; was not a can- 
didate for re-election. From 184910 1854, 
inclusive, I practiced the law more assid- 
uously than ever before. Always a Whig 
in politics, and generally on the Whig elec- 
toral tickets, making active canvasses, I was 
losing interest in politics, when the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise roused me 
again. What I have done since is pretty 
well known." 

The early residence of Lincoln in Indi- 
ana was sixteen miles north of the Ohio 
River, on Little Pigeon Creek, one and a 
half miles east of Gentryville, within the 
present township of Carter. Here his 
mother died October 5, 1818, and the next 
year his father married Mrs. Sally (Bush) 
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She 
was an affectionate foster-parent, to whom 
Abraham was indebted for his first encour- 
agement to study. He became an eager 
reader, and the few books owned in the 
vicinity were many times perused. He 
worked frequentlv for the neighbors as a 
farm laborer; was for some time clerk in a 
store at Gentrj'ville; and became famous 
throughout that region for his athletic 



powers, his fondness for argument, his in- 
exhaustible fund of humerous anecdote, as 
well as for mock oratory and the composi 
tion of rude satirical verses. In 1828 he 
made a trading voyage to New Orleans as 
" bow-hand " on a flatboat ; removed to 
Illinois in 1830; helped his father build a 
log house and clear a farm on the north 
fork of Sangamon River, ten miles west of 
Decatur, and was for some time employed 
in splitting rails for the fences — a fact which 
was prominently brought forward for a 
political purpose thirty years later. 

In the spring of 1851 he, with two of his 
relatives, was hired to build a flatboat on 
the Sangamon River and navigate it to 
New Orleans. The boat "stuck" on a 
mill-dam, and was got off with great labor 
through an ingenious mechanical device 
which some years later led to Lincoln's 
taking out a patent for "an imprcncd 
method for lifting vessels over shoals." 
This voyage was memorable for another 
reason — the sight of slaves chained, mal- 
treated and flogged at New Orleans was 
the origin of his deep convictions upon the 
slaver\- question. 

Returning from this voyage he became a 
resident for several \^ears at New Salem, a 
recently settled village on the Sangamon, 
where he was successively a clerk, grocer, 
surveyor and postmaster, and acted as pilot 
to the first steamboat that ascended the 
Sangamon. Here he studied law, inter- 
ested himself in local politics after his 
return from the Black Hawk war, and 
iiccame known as an effective "stuinp- 
sjicaker." The subject of his first political 
speech was the improvement of the channel 
of the Sangamon, and the chief ground on 
which he announced himself (1832) a candi- 
date for the Legislature was his advocacy 
of this popular measure, on which subject 
his practical experience made him the high- 
est authority. 
1 Elected to the Legislature in 1834 as a 



88 



PRES/DEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



" Henry Clay Whig," he rapidly acquired 
that command of language and that homely 
but forcible rhetoric which, added to his 
intimate knowledge of the people from 
which he sprang, made him more than a 
match in debate for his few well-educated 
opponents. 

Admitted to the bar in 1837 he soon 
established himself at Springfield, where 
the State capital was located in 1839, 
iargely through his influence ; became a 
successful pleader in the State, Circuit and 
District Courts ; married in 1842 a lady be- 
longing to a prominent famil}' in Lexington, 
Kentucky; took an active part in the Pres- 
idential campaigns of 1840 and 1844 as 
candidate for elector on the Harrison and 
Clay tickets, and in 1846 was elected to the 
United States House of Representatives 
over the celebrated Peter Cartwright. 
During his single term in Congress he did 
not attain any prominence. 

He voted for the reception of anti-slavery 
petitions for the abolition of the slave trade 
in the District of Columbia and for the 
Wilmot proviso; but was chiefly remem- 
bered for the stand he took against the 
Mexican war. For several years there- 
after he took comparatively little interest 
in politics, but gained a leading position at 
the Springfield bar. Two or three non- 
political lectures and an eulogy on Henry 
Clay (1852) added nothing to his reputation. 

In 1834 the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise by the Kansas-Nebraska act 
aroused Lincoln from his indifference, and 
in attacking that measure he had the im- 
mense advantage of knowing perfectlv well 
the motives and the record of its author, 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then popu- 
larly designated as the " Little Giant." The 
latter came to Springfield in October, 1854, 
on the occasion of the State Fair, to vindi- 
cate his policy in the Senate, and the " Anti- 
Nebraska" Whigs, remembering that Lin- 
coln had often measured his strength with 



Douglas in the Illinois Legislature and be- 
fore the Springfield Courts, engaged him 
to improvise a reply. This speech, in the 
opinion of those who heard it, was one of 
the greatest efforts of Lincoln's life ; cer- 
tainly the most effective in his whole career. 
It took the audience by storm, and from 
that moment it was felt that Douglas had 
met his match. Lincoln was accordingly 
selected as the Anti-Nebraska candidate for 
the United States Senate in place of General 
Shields, whose term expired March 4, 1855, 
and led to several ballots; but Trumbull 
was ultimately chosen. 

The second conflict on the soil of Kan- 
sas, which Lincoln had predicted, soon be- 
gan. The result was the disruption of the 
Whig and the formation of the Republican 
party. At the Bloomington State Conven- 
tion in 1856, where the new party first 
assumed form in Illinois, Lincoln made an 
impressive address, in which for the first 
time he took distinctive ground against 
slavery in itself. 

At the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia, June 17, after the nomi- 
nation of Fremont, Lincoln was put for- 
ward by the Illinois delegation for the 
Vice-Presidency, and received on the first 
ballot no votes against 259 for William L 
Dayton. He took a prominent part in the 
canvass, being on the electoral ticket. 

In 1858 Lincoln was unanimously nomi 
nated by the Republican State Convention 
as its candidate for the United States Senate 
in place of Douglas, and in his s[)eech of 
acceptance used the celebrated illustration 
of a "house divided against itself' on the 
slavery question, which was, perhaps, the 
cause of his defeat. The great debate car- 
ried on at all the principal towns of Illinois 
between Lincoln and Douglas as rival Sena- 
torial candidates resulted at the time in the 
election of the latter ; but being widely cii- 
culated as a campaign document, it fixed 
the attention of the country upon the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



89 



former, as the clearest and most convinc- 
ing exponent of Republican doctrine. 

Early in 1859 lie began to be named in 
Illinois as a suitable Republican candidate 
for the Presidential campaign of the ensu- 
ing year, and a political address delivered 
at the Cooper Institute, New York, Febru- 
ary 27, i860, followed by similar speeches 
at New Haven, Hartford and elsewhere in 
New England, first made him known to the 
Eastern States in the light by which he had 
long been regarded at home. By the Re- 
publican State Convention, which met at 
Decatur, Illinois, May 9 and 10, Lincoln 
was unanimously endorsed for the Presi- 
dency. It was on this occasion that two 
rails, said to have been split by his hands 
thirty years before, were brought into the 
convention, and the incident contributed 
much to his popularity. The National 
Republican Convention at Chicago, after 
spirited efforts made in favor of Seward, 
Chase and Bates, nominated Lincoln for 
the Presidency, with Hannibal Hatulin 
for Vice-President, at the same time adopt- 
ing a vigorous anti-slavery platform. 

The Democratic party having been dis 
organized and presenting two candidates, 
Douglas and Breckenridge, and the rem- 
nant of the " Ainerican" party having put 
fiirward John Bell, of Tennessee, the Re- 
])ublican victory was an easy one, Lincoln 
being elected November 6 by a large plu- 
rality, comprehending nearly all the North- 
ern States, but none of the Southern. The 
secession of South Carolina and the Gulf 
States was the immediate result, followed 
a few months later by that of the border 
slave States and the outbreak of the great 
civil war. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln became 
thenceforth merged in the history of his 
country. None of the details of the vast 
conflict which filled the reinainder of Lin- 
coln's life can here be given. Narrowly 
escaping assassination b)' avoiding Balti- 



more on his way to the capital, he reached 
Washington February 23, and was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States March 
4, 1 86 1. 

In his inaugural address he said: " I hold, 
that in contemplation of universal law and 
the Constitution the Union of these States is 
perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not ex- 
pressed in the fundatiiental laws of all na- 
tional govermncnts. It is safe to assert 
that no government proper ever had a pro- 
vision in its organic law for its own termi- 
nation. I therefcjre consider that in view 
of the Constitution and the laws, the Union 
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
I shall take care, as the Constitution en- 
joins upon me, that the laws of the United 
States be extended in all the States. In 
doing this there need be no bloodshed or vio- 
lence, and there shall be none unless it be 
forced upon the national authority. The 
power conferred to me will be used to hold, 
occupy and possess the property and places 
belonging to the Government, and to col- 
lect the duties and iinports, but beyond 
what may be necessary for these objects 
tlTere will be no invasion, no using of force 
against or among the people anywhere. In 
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country-, 
men, is the momentous issue of civil war. 
The Government will not assail you. You 
can have no conflict without being your- 
selves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in heaven to destroj' the Gov- 
ernment, while I shall have the most sol- 
emn one to preserve, protect and defend 
it." 

He called to his cabinet his principal 
rivals for the Presidential nomination — • 
Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates; se- 
cured the co-operation of the Union Demo- 
crats, headed by Douglas ; called out 75,000 
militia from the several States upon the first 
tidings of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
April 15; proclaimed a blockade of the 
Southern posts April 19; called an extra 



.JO 



PliESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



session of Congress for July 4, from which 
he asked and obtained 400,000 men and 
$400,000,000 for the war; placed McClellan 
at the head of the Federal army on General 
Scott's resignation, October 31; appointed 
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, Jan- 
uary 14, 1862, and September 22, 1862, 
issued a proclamation declaring the free- 
dom of all slaves in the States and parts of 
States then in rebellion from and after 
January i. 1863. This was the crowning 
act of Lincoln's career — the act by which 
he will be chiefly known through all future 
time — and it decided the war. 

October 16, 1863, President Lincoln called 
for 300,000 volunteers to replace those 
whose term of enlistment had expired ; 
made a celebrated and touching, though 
brief, address at the dedication of the 
Gettysburg military cemetery, November 
19, 1863; commissioned Ulysses S. Grant 
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in- 
Chief of the armies of the United States, 
March 9, 1864; was re-elected President in 
November of the same year, by a large 
majority over General McClellan, with 
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as Vice- 
President; delivered a very remarkable ad- 
dress at his second inauguration, March 4, 
1865; visited the army before Richmond the 
same month; entered the capital of the Con- 
federacy the day after its fall, and upon the 
surrender of General Robert E. Lee'c army, 
April 9, was actively engaged in devising 
generous plans for the reconstruction of the 
Union, when, on the evening ol Good Fri- 
day, April 14, he was shot in his box at 
Ford's Theatre, Washington, by John Wilkes 
Booth, a fanatical actor, and expired early 
on the following morning, April 15. Al- 
most simultaneously a murderous attack 
was made upon William H. Seward, Secre- 
tary of State. 

At noon on the 15th of April Andrew 



Johnson assumed the Presidency, and active 
measures were taken which resulted in the 
death of Booth and the execution of his 
principal accomplices. 

The funeral of President Lincoln was 
conducted with unexampled solemnit\' and 
magnificence. Impressive services were 
held in Washington, after which the sad 
procession proceeded over the same route 
he had traveled four 3'ears before, from 
Springfield to Washington. In Philadel- 
phia his body lay in state in Independence 
Hall, in which he had declared before his 
first inauguration "that I would sooner be 
assassinated than to give up the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence." He 
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near 
Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, where a 
monument emblematic of the emancipation 
of the slaves and the restoration of the 
Union mark his resting place. 

The leaders and citizens of the expiring 
Confederacy expressed genuine indignation 
at the murder of a generous political adver- 
sary. Foreign nations took part in mourn- 
ing the death of a statesman who had proved 
himself a true representative of American 
nationality. The freedmen of the South 
almost worshiped the memorj' of their de- 
liverer; and the general sentiment of the 
great Nation he had saved awarded him a 
place in its affections, second only to that 
held by Washington. 

The characteristics of Abraham Lincoln 
have been familiarly known throughout the 
civilized world. His tall, gaunt, ungainly 
figure, homely countenance, and his shrewd 
mother-wit, shown in his celebrated con- 
versations overflowing in humorous and 
pointed anecdote, combined with an accu- 
rate, intuitive appreciation of the questions 
of the time, are recognized as forming the 
best type of a period of American histor\' 
now rapidly passing away. 






•-/z. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



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%.r ^ Ii^i..-« r7:, '^ NDREW JOHNSON, 
the Feventeenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1865-9, was 
born at R a 1 e i g h , 
North Carolina, De- 
■t\^ c e m b e r 29, 1808. 
His fatlicr died when 
he was four y<-";"'S old, and in 
£; *fV'"" his eleventh year he was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor. He nev- 
er attended school, and did 
not learn to read until late in 
his apprenticeship, when he 
suddenly acquired a passion for 
obtaining knowledge, and devoted 
all his spare time to reading. 

After working two years as a jouriiey- 
man tailor at Lauren's Court-House, South 
Carolina, he removed, in 1826, to Green- 
ville, Tennessee, where he worked at his 
trade and married. Under his wife's in- 
structions he made rapid progress in his 
education, and manifested such an intelli- 
gent interest in local politics as to be 
elected as " workingmen's candidate" al- 
derman, in 1828, and mavor in 1830, being 
twice re-elected to each office. 

During this period he cultivated his tal- 
ents as a public speaker bv taking [jart in a 



debating society, consisting largely of stu- 
dents of Greenville College. In 1835, and 
again in 1839, ^^ was chosen to the lower 
house of the Legislature, as a Democrat. 
In 1841 he was elected State Senator, and 
in 1843, Representative in Congress, being 
re-elected four successive periods, until 
1853, when he was chosen Governor of 
: Tennessee. In Congress he supported the 
i administrations of Tyler and Polk in their 
chief measures, especially the annexati(jn 
of Texas, the adjustment of the Oregon 
] boundary, the Mexican war, and the tariff 
of 1846. 

In 1855 Mr. Johnson was re-elected Gov- 
ernor, and in 1857 entered the United 
States Senate, where he was conspicuous 
as an advocate of retrenchment and of the 
Homestead bill, and as an opponent of the 
Pacific Railroad. He was supported by the 
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic 
convention in i860 for the Presidential 
nomination, and lent his influence to the 
Breckenridge wing of that party. 

When the election of Lincoln had 
brought about the first attempt at secession 
in December, i860, Johnson took in the 
Senate a firm attitude for the Union, and 
in May, 1861, on returning to Tennessee, 
he was in imminent peril of suffering from 



94 



PffES/DEJVTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



popular violence for his loyalty to the " old 
flag." He was the leader of the Loyalists' 
convention of East Tennessee, and during 
the following winter was very active in or- 
ganizing relief for the destitute loyal refu- 
gees from that region, his own family being 
among those compelled to leave. 

By his course in this crisis Johnson came 
prominently before the Northern public, 
and when in March, 1862, he was appointed 
by President Lincoln military Governor of 
Tennessee, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, he increased in popularity by the vig- 
orous and successful manner in which he 
labored to restore order, protect Union 
men and punish marauders. On the ap- 
proach of the Presidential campaign of 1864, 
the termination of the war being plainly 
foreseen, and several Southern States being 
partially reconstructed, it was felt that the 
Vice-Presidency should be given to a South- 
ern man of conspicuous lo3-alty, and Gov- 
ernor Johnson was elected on the same 
platform and ticket as President Lincoln; 
and on the assassination of the latter suc- 
ceeded to the Presidenc}', April 15, 1865. 
Ill a public speech two da)'S later he said: 
"The American people must be taught, if 
they do not already feel, that treason is a 
crime and must be punished; that the Gov- 
ernment will not always bear with its ene- 
mies; that it is strong, not only to protect, 
but to punish. In cnir peaceful history 
treason has been almost unknown. The 
people must understand that it is the black- 
est of crimes, and will be punished." He 
then added the ominous sentence: '" In re- 
gard to my future course, I make no prom- 
ises, no pledges." President Johnson re- 
tained the cabinet of Lincoln, and exhibited 
considerable severity toward traitors in his 
earlier acts and speeches, but he soon inaug- 
urated a policy of reconstruction, proclaim- 
ing a general amnest}' to the late Confeder- 
ates, and successively establishing provis- 
ional Governments in the Southern States. 



These States accordingly claimed represen- 
tation in Congress in the following Decem- 
ber, and the momentous question of what 
should be the policy of the victorious Union 
toward its late armed opponents was forced 
upon that body. 

Two considerations impelled the Repub- 
lican majority to reject the policy of Presi. 
dent Johnson: First, an apprehension that 
the chief magistrate intended to undo the re- 
sults of the war in regard to slavery; and, sec- 
ond, the sullen attitude of the South, which 
seemed to be plotting to regain the policy 
which arms had lost. The credentials of the 
Southern members elect were laid on the 
table, a civil rights bill and a bill extending 
the sphere of the Freedmen's Bureau were 
passed over the executive veto, and the two 
highest branches of the Government were 
soon in open antagonism. The action of 
Congress was characterized b}' the Presi- 
dent as a " new rebellion." In July the 
cabinet was reconstructed, Messrs. Randall, 
Stanbury and Browning taking the places 
of Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan, and 
an unsuccessful attempt was made by 
means of a general convention in Philadel- 
phia to form a new party on the basis of the 
administration policy. 

In an excursion to Chicago for the pur- 
pose of laying a corner-stone of the monu- 
ment to Stephen A. Douglas, President 
Johnson, accompanied by several members 
of the cabinet, passed through Philadelphia. 
New York and Albany, in each of which 
cities, and in other places along the route, 
he made speeches justifying and explaining 
his own polic3% and violently denouncing 
the action of Congress. 

August 12, 1867, President Johnson re- 
moved the Secretary of War, replacing 
him by General Grant. Secretary Stanton 
retired under protest, based upon the ten- 
ure-of-ofifice act which had been passed the 
preceding March. The President then is- 
sued a proclamation declaring the insurrec- 



A NDRB W JOHNSON. 



95 



tion at an end, and that " peace, order, tran- 
quility and civil authority existed in and 
throughout the United States." Another 
proclamation enjoined obedience to the 
Constitution and the laws, and an amnesty 
was published September 7, relieving nearly 
all the participants in the late Rebellion 
from the disabilities thereby incurred, on 
condition of taking the oath to support the 
Constitution and the laws. 

In December Congress refused to confirm 
the removal of Secretary Stanton, who 
thereupon resumed the exercise of his of- 
fice; but February 21, 1868, President 
Johnson again attempted to remove him, 
appointing General Lorenzo Thomas in his 
place. Stanton refused to vacate his post, 
and was sustained by the Senate. 

February 24 the House of Representa- 
tives voted to impeach the President for 
" high crime and misdemeanors," and March 
5 presented eleven articles of impeachment 
on the ground of his resistance to the exe- 
cution of the acts of Congress, alleging, in 
addition to the offense lately committed, 
his public expressions of contempt for Con- 
gress, in " certain intemperate, inflamma- 
tory and scandalous harangues" pronounced 
in August and September, 1866, and there- 
after declaring that the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress of the United States was not a 
competent legislative body, and denying 
its power to propose Constitutional amend- 
ments. March 23 the impeachment trial 
began, the President appearing by counsel, 
and resulted in acquittal, the vote lacking 



one of the two-thirds vote required {or 
conviction. 

The remainder of President Johnson's 
term of office was passed without any such 
conflicts as might have been anticipated. 
He failed to obtain a nomination for re- 
election by the Democratic party, though 
receiving sixty-five votes on the first ballot. 
July 4 and December 25 new j^roclamations 
of pardon to the participants in the late 
Rebellion were issued, but were of little 
effect. On the accession of General Grant 
to the Presidency, March 4, 1869, Johnson 
returned to Greenville, Tennessee. Unsuc- 
cessful in 1870 and 1872 as a candidate re- 
spectively for United States Senator and 
Representative, he was finally elected to the 
Senate in 1875, and took his seat in the extra 
session of March, in which his speeches 
were comparatively temperate. He died 
July 31, 1875, and was buried at Green- 
ville. 

President Johnson's administiation was a 
peculiarly unfortunate one. That he should 
so soon become involved in bitter feud with 
the Republican m^joritv in Congress was 
certainl)- a surprising and deplorable inci- 
dent; 3'et, in reviewing the circimistances 
after a lapse of so many years, it is easy to 
find ample room for a charitable judgment 
of both the parties in the heated contro- 
versy, since it cannot be doubted that any 
President, even Lincoln himself, had he 
lived, must h;ive sacrificed a large portion 
of his popularity in carrying out any pos- 
sible scheme of reconstruction. 



96 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/ TED STATES. 



^.«pV-¥T^n t -m rw -rs v-w ra T»-yT rt rw n rt~n-n TJ r^ TT Tl n ^1 



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LYSSES SIMPSON 
GRANT, the eight- 
eenth President of the 
United States, 1869-77, 
was born April 27, 1 822, 
^ at P o i n t Pleasant, 
^ Clermont County, 
His father was of Scotch 



,^ Ohio. 

'^ descent, and a dealer in leather. 
At the age of seventeen he en- 
tered the Militaiy Academy at 
West Point, and four years later 
graduated twenty-first in a class 
of thirtv-nine, receiving the 
commission of Bi'evet Second 
Lieutenant. He was assigned 
to the Fourth Infantry and re- 
mained in the army eleven years. He was 
engaged in every battle of the Mexican war 
except that of Buena Vista, and received 
two brevets for gallantry. 

In 1848 Mr. Grant married Julia,daughter 
of Frederick Dent, a prominent merchant of 
St. Louis, and in 1854, having reached the 
grade of Captain, he resigned his commis- 
sion in the army. For several years he fol- 
lowed farming near St. Louis, but imsuc- 
cessfully ; and in i860 he entered the leather 
trade with his father at Galena, Illinois. 

When the civil war broke out in 1861, 
Grant was thirty-nine years of age, but en- 
tirely unknown to public men and without 




any personal acquaintance with great affairs. 
President Lincoln's first call for troops was 
made on the 15th of April, and on the 19th 
Grant was drilling a company of volunteers 
at Galena. He also offered his services to 
the Adjutant-General of the armv, but re- 
ceived no reply. The Governor of Illinois. 
however, employed him in the organization 
of volunteer troops, and at the end of fiyc 
weeks he was appointed Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Infantry. He took command 
of his regiment in June, and reported first 
to General Pope in Missouri. His superior 
knowledge of militar}- life rather surprised 
his superior officers, who had never before 
even lieard of him, and they were thus led 
to place him on the road to rapid advance- 
ment. August 7 he was commissioned a 
Brigadier-General of volunteers, the ap- 
pointment having been made without his 
knowledge. He had been unanimously 
recommended by the Congressmen from 
Illinois, not one of whom had been his 
personal acquaintance. For a few weeks 
he was occupied in watching the move- 
ments of partisan forces in Missouri. 

September i he was placed in command 
of the District of Southeast Missouri, with 
headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th, with- 
out orders, he seized Paducah, at the mouth 
of the Tennessee River, and commanding 
the navigation both of that stream and oi 




^ ■^^^07- ^^-^^ 



i 



a/.rssES s. grant. 



99 



the Ohio. This stroke secured Kentucky 
to the Union ; for the State Legislature, 
which had until then affected to be neutral, 
at once declared in favor of the Govern- 
nient. In November following, according 
to orders, he made a demonstration about 
eigliteen miles below Cairo, preventing the 
crossing of hostile troops into Missouri ; 
but in order to accomplish this purpose he 
liad to do some fighting, and that, too, witli 
only 3,000 raw recruits, against 7,000 Con- 
federates. Grant carried off two pieces of 
artilicr}- and 200 prisoners. 

After repeated applications to General 
Hailcck, his immediate superior, he was 
allowed, in February, 1862, to move up the 
Tennessee River against Fort Henry, in 
conjunction with a naval force. The gun- 
boats silenced the fort, and Grant immedi- 
ately made preparations to attack Fort 
Donelson, about twelve miles distant, on 
the Cumberland River. Without waiting 
for orders he moved his troops there, and 
with 15,000 men began the siege. The 
fort, garrisoned with 21,000 men, was a 
strong one, but after hard fighting on three 
successive days Grant forced an " Uncon- 
ditional Surrender" (an alliteration upon 
the initials of his name). The prize he capt- 
ured consisted of sixty-five cannon, 17,600 
small arms and 14,623 soldiers. About 4,- 
000 of the garrison had escaped in the night, 
and 2,500 were killed or wounded. Grant's 
entire loss was less than 2,000. This was the 
first important success won by the national 
troops during the war, and its strategic re- 
sults were marked, as the entire States of 
Kentucky and Tennessee at once fell into the 
National hands. Our hero was made a 
Major-General of Volunteers and placed in 
command of the District of West Ten- 
nessee. 

ill March, 1862, he was ordered to move 
up liie Tennessee River toward Corinth, 
where the Confederates were concentrat- 
ing a large army ; but he was directed not 



to attack. His forces, now numbering 38,- 
000, were accordingly encamped near Shi- 
loh, or Pittsburg Landing, to await the 
arrival of General Buell with 40,000 more; 
but April 6 the Confederates came out from 
Corinth 50,000 strong and attacked Grant 
violently, ho[)ing to overwhelm him bef(jre 
Buell could arrive ; 5,0000! his troops were 
beyond supporting distance, scj that he was 
largely outnumbered and forced back to the 
river, where, however, he held out until 
dark, when the head of Buell's column 
came upon the field. The next day the 
Confederates were driven back to Corinth, 
nineteen miles. The" loss was heav}' on 
both sides; Grant, being senior in rank to 
Buell, commanded on both da3-s. Two 
da3'S afterward Halleck arrived at the front 
and assumed command of the army. Grant 
remaining at the head of the right wing and 
the reserve. On May 30 Corinth was 
evacuated by the Confederates. In July 
Halleck was made General-in-Chief, and 
Grant succeeded him in command of the 
Department of the Tennessee. September 
19 the battle of luka was fought, where, 
owing to Rosecrans's fault, only an incom- 
plete victory was obtained. 

Next, Grant, with 30,000 men, moved 
down into Mississippi and threatened Vicks- 
burg, while Sherman, with 40,000 men, was 
sent by way of tlie river to attack that placj 
in front; but, owing to Colonel Murph^^'s 
surrendering Holl}' Springs to the Con- 
federates, Grant was so weakened that he 
had to retire to Corinth, and then Sherman 
failed to sustain his intended attack. 

In January, 1863, General Grant took 
command in person of all the troops in the 
Mississippi Valley, and spent several months 
in fruitless attempts to compel the surrender 
or evacuation of Vicksburg; but July 4, 
following, the place surrendered, with 31,- 
600 men and 172 cannon, and the Mississippi 
River thus fell permanently into the hands 
of the Government. Grant was made a 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UMTED STATES. 



Major-General in the regular armv, and in 
October following he was placed in com- 
mand of the Division of the Mississippi. 
The same month he went to Chattanooga 
and saved the Army of the Cumberland 
from starvation, and drove Bragg from that 
part of the country. This victory over- 
threw the last important hostile force west 
of the AUeghanies and opened the wa}^ for 
the National armies into Georgia and Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

The remarkable series of successes which 
Grant had now achieved pointed him out 
as the appropriate leader of the National 
armies, and accordingly, in February, 1864, 
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created 
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he 
assumed command of the armies of the 
United States. Planning the grand final 
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia, 
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler 
to capture Richmond, while he fought his 
own way from the Rapidan to the James. 
The costly but victorious battles of the 
Wilderness, Spotts\-lvania, North Anna and 
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the 
purpose of annihilating Lee than to capture 
any particular point. In June, 1864, the 
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman, 
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily 
in Georgia and steadily advancing toward 
Atlanta; but Sigel had been defeated in the 
valley of Virginia, and was superseded bv 
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the Na- 
tional capital ; whereupon Grant gathered 
up a force which he placed under Sheridan, 
and that commander rapidly drove Early, 
in a succession of battles, through the valley 
of Virginia and destroyed his armv as an 
organized force. The siege of Richmond 
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks, 
but was only partially successful. The 
people of the North grew impatient, and 
even the Government advised him to 
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or 
crush the Confederacy in that way ; but he 



never wavered. He resolved to " fight it 
out on that line, if it took all summer." 

By September Sherman had made his 
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him 
on his famous " march to the sea," a route 
which the chief had designed six months 
before. He made Sherman's success possi- 
ble, not only by holding Lee in front of 
Richmond, but also by sending reinforce- 
ments to Thomas, who then drew off and 
defeated the only army which could have 
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was 
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheri- 
dan, was used in the furtherance of Grant's 
plans. Each executed his part in the great 
design and contributed his share to the re- 
sult at which Grant was aiming. Sherman 
finally reached Savannah, Schofield beat 
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nash- 
ville, and Sheridan wherever he met him; 
and all this while General Grant was hold- 
ing Lee, with the principal Confedeiate 
army, near Richmond, as it were chained 
and helpless. Then Schofield was brought 
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wil- 
mington were captured on the sea-coast, so 
as to afford him a foothold ; from here he 
was sent into the interior of North Caro- 
lina, and Sherman was ordered to move 
northward to join him. When all this was 
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else 
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant 
brought the cavalry leader to the front of 
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove 
Lee from his entrenchments and captured 
Richmond. 

At the beginning of the final campaign 
Lee had collected 73,000 fighting men in 
the lines at Richmond, besides the local 
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting 
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force 
Grant had 1 10,000 men in the works before 
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell 
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on tl:e 
3d, and Lee fled in the direction of Lynch- 
burg. Grant pursued with remorseless 



l/LrSSES S. G/eAA'T. 



energy, onl}' stopping to strike frfesh blows, 
and Lcc at last found himself not only out- 
fought but also out-inarchcd and out-gen- 
eraled. Being completely surrounded, he 
surrendered on the 9th of April, 1865, at 
Appomattox Court-House, in the opten field, 
with 27,000 men, all that remained of his 
army. This act virtuaih- ended the war. 
Thus, in ten days Grant had captured 
Petersburg and Richmond, fought, by his 
subordinates, the battles of Five Forks and 
Sailor's Creek, besides numerous smaller 
ones, captured 20,000 men in actual battle, 
and received the surrender of 27,000 more 
at Appomattox, absolutely annihilating an 
army of 70.000 soldiers. 

General Grant returned at once to Wash- 
ington to superintend the disbandment of 
the armies, but this pleasurable work was 
scarcely begun when President Lincoln was 
assassinated. It had doubtless been in- 
tended to inflict the same fate upon Grant ; 
but he, fortunately, on account of leaving 
Washington early in the evening, declined 
an invitation to accom])any the President 
to the theater where the murder was com- 
mitted. This event made Andrew Johnson 
President, but left Grant by far the most 
conspicuous figure in the public life of the 
country. He became the object of an en- 
thusiasm greater than had ever been known 
in America. Every possible honor was 
heaped upon him ; the grade of General 
was created for him by Congress; houses 
were presented to him by citizens; towns 
were illuminated on his entrance into them ; 
and, to cap the climax, when he made his 
tour around the world, "all nations did him 
honor" as they had never before honored 
a foreigner. 

The General, as Commander-in-Chief, 
was placed in an embarrassing position by 
the opposition of President Johnson to the 
measures of Congress ; but he directly man- 
ifested his characteristic loyalty by obeying 
Congress rather than the disaffected Presi- 



dent, although for a short time he had 
served in his cabinet as Secretary of War. 

Of course, everybody thought of General 
Grant as the next President of the United 
States, and he was accordingly elected as 
such in 1868 "by a large majorit}'," and 
four years later re-elected by a much larger 
majority — the most overwhelming ever 
given by the people of this country. His first 
administration was distinguished by a ces- 
sation of the strifes which sprang from the 
war, by a large reduction of the National 
debt, and b}' a settlement of the difficulties 
with England which had grown out of the 
depredations committed by privateers fit- 
ted out in England during the war. This 
last settlement was made by the famous 
" Geneva arbitration," which saved to this 
Government $1 5,000,000, but, more than all, 
prevented a war with England. "Let us 
have peace," was Grant's motto. And this 
is the most appropriate place to remark 
that above all Presidents whom this Gov- 
ernment has ever had. General Grant was 
tiie most non-partisan. He regarded the 
Executive office as purely and exclusively 
executive of the laws of Congress, irrespect- 
ive of "politics." But every great man 
has jealous, bitter enemies, a fact Grant 
was well aware of. 

After the close of his Presidency, our 
General made his famous tour around the 
world, already referred to, and soon after- 
ward, in company with Ferdinand Ward, 
of New York City, he engaged in banking 
and stock brokerage, which business was 
made disastrous to Grant, as well as to him- 
self, by his rascality. By this time an in- 
curable cancer of the tongue developed 
itself in the person of the afflicted ex- 
President, which ended his unrequited life 
July 23, 1885. Thus passed away from 
earth's turmoils the man, the General, who 
was as truly the " father of this regenerated 
countr}-" as was Washington the father of 
the infant nation. 



I62 



Presidents of the united states. 






»^ " T ■ I I t T I ■ 1 T Mt mi I T 1 ■ M 1 1 I " T " " t ' ' M " ' M " ' t M " ' I ' ' t ' • ' r [ I " t ' ' : '. ; ! : " ' ' ' ' ' ' I ' ' I " ' • ' ' t < 1 1 m 1 1 i i >■ ■ ■ 1 1 T » i-jM ~ * 



'8" 



'f^0? 







UTHERFORD BIRCH- 
ARD HAYES, the nine- 
teenth President of 
the United States, 
i877-'Si, was born in 
^'^L Delaware, Ohio, Oc- 
'^^'*5^ tober 4, 1822. His 
ancestry can be traced as far 
back as 1280, when Hayes and 
Rutherford were two Scottish 
chieftains fighting side by side 
with Baliol, William Wallace 
and Robert Bruce. Both fami- 
lies belonged to the nobility, 
owned extensive estates and had 
a large following. The Hayes 
family had, for a coat of-arms, a 
shield, barred and surmounted by a flying 
eagle. There was a circle of stars about 
the eagle and above the shield, while on a 
scroll underneath the shield was inscribed 
the motto, " Recte." Misfortune overtaking 
tiic family, George Hayes left Scotland in 
1680, and settled in Windsor, Connecticut. 
He was an industrious worker in wood and 
iron, having a mechanical genius and a cul- 
tivated mind. His son George was born 
in Windsor and remained there during his 
life. 

Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married 
Sarah Lee, and lived in Simsbury, Con- 




necticut. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born 
in 1724, and was a manufacturer of sc3-thes 
at Bradford, Connecticut. Rutherford 
Ha_ves, son of Ezekiel and grandfather of 
President Hayes, was born in New Haven, 
in August, 1756. He was a famous black- 
smith and tavern-keeper. He immigrated to 
Vermont at an unknown date, settlijig in 
Brattleboro where he established a hotel. 
Here his son Rutherford, father of Presi- 
dent Hayes, was born. In September, 1813, 
he married Sophia Birchard, of Wilming- 
ton, Vermont, whose ancestry on the male 
side is traced back to 1635, to John Birch- 
ard, one of the principal founders of Nor- 
wich. Both of her grandfathers were 
soldiers in the Revolutionarv war. 

The father of President Ha3xs was of a 
mechanical turn, and could mend a plow, 
knit a stocking, or do almost an\thing that 
he might undertake. He was prosperous 
in business, a member of the church and 
active in all the benevolent enterprises of 
the town. After the close of the war of 181 2 
he immigrated to Ohio, and purchased a 
farm near the present town of Delaware. 
His family then consisted of his wife and 
two children, and an orphan girl whom he 
had adopted. 

It was in 1817 that the famil\- arrived at 
Delaware. Instead of settling upon his 




s 



u/Wi 




RUTHERFORD B. HATES. 



«'>S 



farm, Mr. Hayes concluded to enter into 
business in the village. He purchased an 
interest in a distillery, a business then as re- 
spectable as it was profitable. His capital 
and recognized ability assured liiin tiie 
highest social position in the coiiimunit3'. 
He died July 22, 1822, less than three 
months before the birth of the son that was 
d'-stincd to fill the office of President of the 
United States. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, 
and tiie subject of this sketch was so feeble 
at birth that he was not c.Kpected to live 
beyond a month or two at most. As the 
months went by he grew weaker and weaker 
so that the neighbors were in the habit of 
inquiring from time to time " if Mrs. 
Ha\-es's baby died last night." On one oc- 
casion a neighbor, who was on friendly 
terms with the family, after alluding to the 
boy's big head and the mother's assiduous 
care of him, said to her, in a bantering way, 
"That's right! Stick to him. You have 
got him along so far, and I shouldn't won- 
der if lie would reall)- come to something 
yet." " Vou need not laugh," said Mrs. 
Hayes, " you wait and see. You can't tell 
but I siiall make him President o( the 
I'nited Statesyet." 

Tiie boy lived, in spite of the universal 
predictions of his speedy death; and when, 
in 1825, his elder brother was drowned, he 
became, if possible, still dearer to his mother. 
He was seven years old before he was 
placed in school. His education, however, 
was not neglected. His sports were almost 
wholly within doors, his playmates being 
his sister and her associates. These circum- 
stances tended, no doubt, to foster that 
gentleness of disposition and that delicate 
consideration for the feelings of others 
which are marked traits of his character. 
.\t school he was ardently devoted to his 
studies, obedient to the teacher, and care- 
ful to avoid the quarrels in which many of 
his schoolmates were involved. He was 



always waiting at the school-house door 
when it opened in the morning, and never 
late in returning to his seat at recess. His 
sister Fannie was his constant companion, 
and their affection for each other excited 
the admiration of their friends. 

In 1838 \'()ung Hayes entered Kenyon 
College and graduated in 1842. He then 
began the study of law in the office of 
Thomas Sparrow at Columbus. . Hisliealth 
was now well established, his figure robust, 
his mind vigorous and alert. In a short 
time he determined to enter the law school 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for 
two years he pursued his studies with great 
diligence. 

In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at 
Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went 
into pi'actice as an attorney-at-law with 
Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he 
remained three years, acquiring but limited 
practice, and apparently unambitious of 
distinction in his profession. His bachelor 
uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had always 
manifested great interest in his nephew and 
rendered him assistance in boyhood, was 
now a wealth)- banker, and it was under- 
stood that the young man would be his 
heir. It is possible that this expectation 
ma)' have made Mr. Hayes more indifferent 
to the attainment of wealth than he would 
otherwise have been, but he was led into no 
extravagance or vices on this account. 

In 1849 ^^ removed to Cincinnati where 
his ambition found new stimulus. Two 
events occurring at this period had a pow- 
erful influence upon his subsequent life. 
One of them was his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, daug'hter of Dr. James 
Webb, of Cincinnati; the other was his 
introduction to the Cincinnati Literary 
Club, a body embracing such men as Chief 
Justice Salmon P. Chase, General John 
Pope and Governor Edward F. No^-es. 
The marriage was a fortunate one as every- 
body knows. Not one of all the wives ol 



io6 



PHESIDENTS OF THE UX/TED STATES. 



our Presidents -.vas more universally ad- 
mired, reverenced and beloved than is Mrs. 
Ha3cs, and no one has done more than she 
to reflect honor upon American woman- 
hood. 

In 1856 Mr. Hayes was nominated to the 
office of Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, but declined to accept the nomina- 
tion. Two years later he was chosen to the 
office of City Solicitor. 

In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, 
he was eager to take up arms in the defense 
of his country. His military life was 
bright and illustrious. June 7, 1861, he 
was appointed Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Infantry. In July the regiment was 
sent to Virginia. October 15, 1 861, he was 
made Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, 
and in August, 1862, was promoted Colonel 
of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but 
refused to leave his old comrades. He was 
wounded at the battle of South Mountain, 
and sulTered severely, being unable to enter 
upon active duty for several weeks. No- 
vember 30, 1862, he rejoined his regiment as 
its Colonel, having been promoted Octo- 
ber 15. 

December 25, 1862, he was placed in com- 
mand of the Kanawha division, and for 
meritorious service in several battles was 
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also ; 
brevetted Major-General for distinguished { 



services in 1864. He was wounded four 
times, and five horses were shot from 
under him. 

Mr. Hayes was first a Whig in politics, 
and was among the first to unite with the 
Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1864 
he was elected to Congress from che Sec- 
ond Ohio District, which had always been 
Democratic, receiving a majority of 3,098. 
In 1866 he was renominated for Congress 
and was a second time elected. In 1867 he 
was elected Governor over Allen G. Thur- 
man, the Democratic candidate, and re- 
elected in 1869. In 1874 Sardis Birchard 
died, leaving his large estate to General 
Hayes. 

In 1876 he was nominated for the Presi- 
dency. His letter of acceptance excited 
the admiration of the whole country. He 
resigned the office of Governor and retired 
to his home in Fremont to await the result 
of the canvass. After a hard, long contest 
he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. His 
Presidency was characterized by compro- 
mises with all parties, in order to please as 
many as possible. The close of his Presi- 
dential term in 1881 was the close of his 
public life, and since then he has remained 
at his home in Fremont, Ohio, in Jefferso- 
nian retirement from public notice, in strik- 
ing contrast with most others of the world's 
notables. 




^-.^^P -.» -2:^-_XY -"^^fjfe^*^^?^ 




4 



yAMES A. GARFIELD. 



109 



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'AMES A. GARFIELD, 

twentieth President of 
tiie United States, 1881, 
was born November 19, 
# '^ IKfe ^S*. 1 83 1, in the wild woods 
%;i>^-v.-^^J- '^2' of Cuyahoga County, 
Ohio. His parents were 
Abram and Ehza (Ballou) 
Garfield, who were of New 
England ancestry. The 
senior Garfield was an in- 
dustrious farmer, as the 
lapid improvements which 
appeared on his place at- 
tested. The residence was 
the familiar pioneer log cabin, 
and the household comprised the parents 
and their children — Mchetable, Thomas, 
Mary and James A. In May, 1833, the 
father died, and the care of the house- 
hold consequently devolved upon young 
Thomas, to whom James was greatly in- 
debted for the educational and other ad- 
vantages he enjoyed. He now lives in 
Michigan, and the two sisters live in Solon, 
Ohio, near their birthplace. 

As the subject of our sketch grew up, he, 
too, was industrious, both in mental and 
physical labor. He worked upon the farm, 
or at carpentering, or chopped wood, or at 
any other odd job that would aid in supjjort 
of the family, and in the meantime made the 



most of his books. Ever afterward he was 
never ashamed of his humble origin, nor for- 
got the friends of his youth. The poorest 
laborer was sure of his sympathy, and he 
always exhibited the character of a modest 
gentleman. 

Until he was about sixteen 3'ears of age, 
James's highest ambition was 10 be a lake 
captain. To this his mother was strongly 
opposed, but she finall_v consented to his 
going to Cleveland to carry out his long- 
cherished design, with the understanding, 
however, that he should try to obtain some 
other kind of employment. He walked all 
the way to Cleveland, and this was his first 
visit to the city. After making many ap- 
plications for work, including labor on 
board a lake vessel, but all in vain, he 
finally engaged as a driver for his cousin, 
Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsyl- 
vania Canal. In a short time, however, he 
quit this and returned home. He then at- 
tended the seminary at Chester for about 
three years, and next he entered Hiram In- 
stitute, a school started in 1850 by the 
Disciples of Christ, of which church he was 
a member. In order to [)ay his way he 
assumed the duties of janitor, and at times 
taught schof)l. I le soon completed the cur- 
riculum there, and then entered Williams 
Colk'ge, at which he graduated in 1.S56, 
taking one of the highest honors of his class. 



PRES/DEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Afterward he returned to Hiram as Presi- 
dent. In his youthful and therefore zealous 
piety, he exercised his talents occasionally 
as a preacher of the Gospel. He was a 
man of strong moral and religious convic- 
tions, and as soon as he began to look into 
politics, he saw innumerable points that 
could be improved. He also studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1859. 
November ir, 1858, Mr. Garfield married 
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who ever after- 
ward proved a worthy consort in all the 
stages of her husband's career. They had 
seven children, five of whom are still living. 

It was in 1859 that Garfield made his 
first political speeches, in Hiram and the 
neigiiboring villages, and three years later 
he began to speak at county mass-meetings, 
being received everywhere with popular 
favor. He was elected to the State Senate 
this year, taking his seat in January, i860. 

On the breaking out of the war of the 
Rebellion in 1861, Mr. Garfield resolved to 
fight as he had talked, and accordingly he 
enlisted to defend the old flag, receiving 
his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Forty-second Regiment of the Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry, August 14, that year. He 
was immediately thrown into active service, 
and before he had ever seen a gun fired in 
action he was placed in command of four 
regiments of infantry and eight companies 
of cavalry, charged with the work of driv- 
ing the Confederates, headed by Humphrey 
Marshall, from his native State, Kentucky. 
This task was speedily accomplished, al- 
though against great odds. On account of 
his success. President Lincoln commissioned 
him Brigadier-Genei^al, January 11, 1862; 
and, as he had been the youngest man in 
the Ohio Senate two years before, so now 
he was the youngest General in the army. 
He was with General Buell's army at Shi- 
loh, also in its operations around Corinth 
and its march through Alabama. Next, he 
was detailed as a member of the general 



court-martial for the trial of General Fitz- 
John Porter, and then ordered to report to 
General Rosecrans, when he was assigned 
to the position of Chief of Staff. His mili- 
tary history closed with his brilliant ser- 
vices at Chickamauga, where he won the 
stars of M;i.jor-General. 

In the fall of 1862, without any effort on 
his part, he was elected as a Representative 
to Congress, from that section of Ohio 
which had been represented for sixty years 
mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlese}- and 
Joshua R. Giddmgs. Again, he was the 
youngest member of that bod}', and con- 
tinued there by successive re-elections, as 
Representative or Senator, until he was 
elected President in 1880. During his life 
in Congress he compiled and published by 
his speeches, there and elsewhere, more 
information on the issues of the dav, espe- 
cially on one side, than any othei- membe)-. 

June 8, 18S0, at the National Republican 
Convention held in Chicago, General Gar- 
field was nominated for the Presidency, in 
preference to the old war-horses, Blaine 
and Grant; and although many of the Re- 
publican part}- felt sore over the failure of 
their respective heroes to obtain the nomi- 
nation. General Garfield was elected by a 
f:iir popular majority. He was duly in- 
augurated, but on July 2 following, before 
he had fairly got started in his administra- 
tion, he was fatally shot by a half-demented 
assassin. After very painful and protracted 
suffering, he died September 19, 1881, la- 
mented by all the American people. Never 
before in the history of this country had 
anything occurred which so nearly froze 
the blood of the Nation, for the moment, as 
the awful act of Guiteau, the murderei'. 
He was duly tried, convicted and put to 
death on the gallows. 

The lamented Garfield was succeeded by 
the Vice-President, General Arthur, wiio 
seemed to endeavor to carry out the policy 
inaugurated by his predecessor. 



41 



^ 





CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



"3 





HESTER ALLEN 
ARTHUR, the twen- 
tv-first Chief Execu- 
tive of this growing 
republic, i88i-'5, was 
born in FrankHn 
Count y , Vermont, 
October 5, 1830, the eldest of a 
family of two sons and five 
r'iiyf^ daughters. His father, Rev. 
V?!al^ Dr. William Arthur, a Baptist 
clergyman, immigrated to this 
country from County Antrim, 
Ireland, in his eighteenth year, 
and died in 1875, in Newton- 
ville, near Albany, New York, 
after serving many years as a successful 
minister. Chester A. was educated at that 
old, conservative institution. Union Col- 
lege, at vSchenectady, New York, where he 
e.xccllcd ill all his studies. He graduated 
there, with honor, and then struck out in 
life for himself by teaching school for about 
two years in his native State. 

At the expiration of that time young 
Arthur, with S500 in his purse, went to the 
city (jf New York and entered the law office 
of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as a student. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar, when 
he formed a partnership with his intimate 



friend and old room.-mate, Henry D. Gar- 
diner, with the intention of practicing law 
at some point in the West; but after spend- 
ing about three months in the Wester. 
States, in search of an eligible place, they 
returned to New York City, leased a room, 
exhibited a sign of their business and al- 
most immediately enjoyed a paying patron- 
age. 

At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's 
business prospects were so encouraging 
that he concluded to take a wife, and ac- 
cordingly he married the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Herndon, of the United States Navy, 
who had been lost at sea. To the widow 
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal, 
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery 
during the occasion in which he lost his 
life. Mrs. Artnur died shortly before her 
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presi- 
dency, leaving two children. 

Mr. Arthur obtained considerable celeb- 
rity as an attorney in the famous Lemmon 
suit, which was brought to recover posses- 
sion of eight slaves, who had been declared 
free by the Superior Court of New York 
City. The noted Charles O'Conor, who 
was nominated by the " Straight Demo- 
crats" in 1872 for the United States Presi- 
dency, was retained by Jonathan G. Lem- 



114 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mon, of Virginia, to recover the negroes, 
but he lost the suit. In this case, however, 
Mr. Arthur was assisted by William M. 
Evarts, now United States Senator. Soon 
afterward, in 1856, a respectable colored 
woman was ejected from a street car in 
New York City. Mr. Arthur sued the car 
company in her behalf and recovered $500 
damages. Immediately afterward all the 
car companies in the city issued orders to 
their employes to admit colored persons 
upon their cars. 

Mr. Arthur's political doctrines, as well 
as his practice as a lawyer, raised him to 
prominence in the party of freedom ; and 
accordingly he was sent as a delegate to 
the first National Republican Convention. 
Soon afterward he was appointed Judge 
Advocate for the Second Brigade of the 
State of New York, and then Engineer-in- 
Chief on Governor Morgan's staff. In 1861, 
the first year of the war, he was made In- 
spector-General, and next, Quartermaster- 
General, in both which offices he rendered 
great service to the Government. Alter 
the close of Governor Morgan's term he 
resumed the practice of law, forming first a 
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and subse- 
quently adding Mr. Phelps to the firm. 
Each of these gentlemen were able lawyers. 

November 21, 1872, General Arthur was 
appointed Collector of the Port of New 
York by President Grant, and he held the 
office until July 20, 1878. 

The next event of prominence in General 
Arthur's career was his nomination to the 
Vice-Presidency of the United States, imder 
the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the 
National Republican Convention held at 
Chicago in June, 1880, when James A. Gar- 
field was placed at the head of the ticket. 
Both the convention and the campaign that 
followed were noisv and exciting. The 
friends of Grant, constituting nearly half 



the convention, were exceedingly persist- 
ent, and were sorely disappomted over 
their defeat. At the head of the Demo- 
cratic ticket was placed a very strong and 
popular man ; yet Garfield and Arthur were 
elected by a respectable plurality of the 
popular vote. The 4th of March following, 
these gentlemen were accordingly inaugu- 
rated ; but within four months the assassin's 
bullet made a fatal wound in the person of 
General Garfield, whose life terminated 
September 19, 1881, when General Arthur, 
ex officio, was obliged to take the chief 
reins of government. Some misgivings 
were entertained by many in this event, as 
Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe 
cially the Grant and Conkling wing of the 
Republican party ; but President Arthur 
had both the ability and the good sense to 
allay all fears, and he gave the restless, 
critical American people as good an ad- 
ministration as they had ever been blessed 
with. Neither selfishness nor low parti- 
sanism ever characterized any feature of 
his public service. He ever maintained a 
high sense of every individual right as well 
as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood 
so high that his successor. President Cleve- 
land, though of opposing politics, expressed 
a wish in his inaugural address that he 
could only satisfy the people with as good 
an administration. 

But the day of civil service reform had 
come in so far, and the corresponding re- 
action against "third-termism" had en- 
croached so far even upon "second-term" 
service, that the Republican party saw fit 
in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi- 
dent. Only by this means was General 
Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash- 
ington. On liis retirement from the Presi- 
dency, March, 1SS5, he engaged in the 
practice of law at jS^ew York City, where he 
died November 18, 1SS6. 




^ 



X. 



A-.-.'-^ 



GRO VER CL E VELA ND. 



117 









^^^^ 



'-"^^ 



/*"• 














ROVER CLEVE 

LAND, the twenty- 
second President of the 
fii^i- • v^.\ United States, 18815 — , 
" "1^^ ■ , ,JyC""» was born in Caldwell, 
Essex County, New 
Jersey, March 18, 
The house in which he 
was born, a small two-story 
wooden buildingf, is still stand- 
^J^^'- ;»■ iui^. It was the parsonage of 
._ .=. .. ii^^ i^resbvterian church, of 
\v h i c h his father, Richard 
Cleveland, at the time was 
pastor. The family is of New- 
England origin, and for two centuries has 
contributed to the professions and to busi- 
ness, men who have reflected honor on the 
name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve- 
land's great-great-grandfather, was hi.ir\\ in 
Massachusetts, but subsequently moved to 
Philadelphia, where he became an intimate 
friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose 
house he died. He left a large family of 
children, who in time married and settled 
in different parts of New England. A 
grandson was one of the small American 
force that fought the British at Bunker 
Hill. He served with gallantry through- 
out the Revolution and was honorably 
discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in 
the Continental army. Another grandson, 
William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron 



Cleveland, who was distinguished as a 
writer and member of the Connecticut 
Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- 
father. William Cleveland became a silver- 
smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- 
quired by industry some property and sent 
his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of 
Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where 
he graduated in 1824. During a year spent 
in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after 
graduation, he met and fell in love with a 
Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy 
Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. 
He was earning his own \va\- in the world 
at the time and was unable to marrv; but 
in three years he completed a course of 
preparation for the ministry, secured a 
church in Windham, Connecticut, and 
married Annie Neale. Subsequently he 
moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he 
preached for nearly two years, when he 
was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, 
where was born Grover Cleveland. 

When he was three years old the family 
moved to F"ayetteville, Onondaga County, 
New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived 
until he was fourteen 3'ears old, the rugged, 
healthful life of a country boy. His frank, 
generous manner made him a favorite 
among his companions, and their respect 
was won by the good qualities in the germ 
which his manhood developed. He at- 
tended the district school of the village and 



ii8 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



was for a short time at the academ)-. His 
lather, however, believed that boys should 
be taught to labor at an earl}^ age, and be- 
fore he had completed the course of study 
at the academy he began to work in the 
village store at $50 for the first year, and the 
promise of $100 for the second year. His 
work was well done and the promised in- 
crease of pay was granted the second year. 
Meanwhile his father and family had 
moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton 
College, where his father acted as agent to 
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
preaching in the churches of the vicinity. 
Hither Grover came at his father's request 
shortly after the beginning of his second 
year at the Fayetteville store, and resumed 
his studies at the Clinton Academy. After 
three years spent in this town, the Rev. 
Richard Cleveland was called to the vil- 
lage church of Holland Patent. He had 
preached here only a month when he was 
suddenly stricken down and died without 
an hour's warning. The death of the father 
left the family in straitened circumstances, 
as Richard Cleveland had spent all his 
salary of $1,000 per year, which was not 
required for the necessary expenses of liv- 
ing, upon the education of his children, of 
whom there were nine, Grover being the 
fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- 
ton College, but the death of his father 
made it necessai-y for him to earn his own 
livelihood. For the first year (i853-'4) he 
acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in 
the Institution for the Blind in New York 
City, of which the late Augustus Schell was 
for many years the patron. In the winter 
of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent 
where the generous people of that place, 
Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a 
home for his mother, and in the following 
spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the 
West to earn his living. 

Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to 
an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known 



T" 



stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few 
miles distant. He communicated his plans 
to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of 
the West, and finally induced the enthusi- 
astic boy of seventeen to remain with him 
and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded 
short-horn cattle, knownas " Allen's Amer- 
ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to 
all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he 
entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen 
& Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a 
few months without pay, was paid $4 a 
week — an amount barely sufficient to meet 
the necessarv expenses of his board in the 
family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with 
whom he took lodgings. Life at this time 
with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle 
with the world. He took his breakfast by 
candle-light with the drovers, and went at 
once to the office where the whole day was 
spent in work and study. Usually he re- 
turned again at night to resume reading 
which had been interrupted b\' the duties 
of the day. Gradually his employers came 
to recognize the abilit}', trustworthiness 
and capacity for hard work in their young 
employe, and by the time he was admitted 
to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con- 
fidence. i\ year later he was made confi- 
dential and managing clerk, and in the 
course of three years more his salary had 
been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed assistant district attorney of Erie 
County by the district attorney, the Hon. 
C. C. Torrance. 

Since his first vote had been cast in 1858 
he had been a staunch Democrat, and until 
he was chosen Governor he always made 
it his dut}', rain or shine, to stand at the 
polls and give out ballots to Democratic 
voters. During the first year of his term 
as assistant district attorney, the Democrats 
desired especially to carry the Board of Su- 
pervisors. The old Second Ward in which 
he lived was Republican* ordinarily by 250 
majority, but at the urgent request of the 



GRO VER CL E VEL A ND. 



•119 



party Grover Cleveland consented to be 
the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, 
and came within thirteen votes of an elec- 
cion. The three years spent in the district 
attorney's otlfice were devoted to assiduous 
labor and the extension of his professional 
attainments. He then formed a law part- 
nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, 
ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name 
of Vanderpoel & Cleveland. Here the bulk 
of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- 
ders, and he soon won a good standing at 
the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. 
Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- 
Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant 
United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- 
som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- 
land & Folsom. During these years he 
began to earn a moderate professional in- 
come; but the larger portion of it was sent 
to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent 
to whose support he had contributed ever 
since i860. He served as sheriff of Erie 
County, i870-'4, and then resumed the 
practice of law, associating himself with the 
Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. 






The firm was strong and popular, and soon 
commanded a large and lucrative practice. 
Ill iicaltii forced the retirement of Mr. Bass 
in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & 
Bissell. In 188 1 Mr. George J. Sicard was 
added to the firm. 

In the autumn election of 1881 he was 
elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of 
over 3,500 — the largest majority ever given 
a candidate for mayor — and the Democratic 
city ticket was successful, although the 
Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 
majority for their State ticket. Grover 
Cleveland's administration as mayor fully 
justified the confidence reposed in him by 
the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the 
great vote he received. 

The Democratic State Convention met 
at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi- 
nated Grover Cleveland for Governor 
on the third ballot and Cleveland was 
elected by 192,000 majority. In the fall ol 
1884 he was elected President of the United 
States by about 1,000 popular majority, 
in New York State, and he was accordingly 
inaugurated the 4th of March following. 



..«4^. 



HISTORY 



-OK- 



-<MINNESOTA> 



^^w 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



CHAPTER I. 




LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL REMARKS. 

INNElSOTA is located in the j immediately west of Lake Superior, consists 
geographical center of the con- 
tinent of North America — mid- 
between the Atlantic and 



way 

Pacific Oceans, and also midway 
between Hudson's Bay and the 
(xulf of Mexico. It embraces 
territory extending from latitude 
-1-3 degrees 50 minutes, to 49 de- 
grees, and from 89 degrees 29 
minutes to 97 degrees 5 minutes 
west longitude. As to its area, 
It can only be estimated, as portions of the 
State are as yet unsurveyed ; but as near as 
can be arrived at, the area is 85,531 square 
miles, or about 53,760,000 acres. In size 
Minnesota is the fourth State in the Union. 
From its southern l)oundary to the northern 
is about 400 miles, and from the most east- 
ern to the extreme western ]ioint about 354 
miles. In altitude it appears to be one of 
the highest jiortions of the continent, ;is the 
headwatci's of the three great river systems 
are found in its limits — those of streams 
flowing nortiiward to Hudson's Biiy, east- 
ward to the -Vtlaiitic Ocean, and southward 
to the (iuir nf ^fexico. 

Nearly three-cpiarters of the surface of the 
State is made uj) of rolling prairie, inter- 
s|iersed with frequent groves, oak openings 
and belts of hardwood timber, watered by 
numei'ous lakes and streams, and covered 
with a warm, dark soil of great fertility. 
The balance, embracing the elevated district 



mainly of the rich minei'al ranges on its 
shores, and (^f the pine forests which extend 
over the upper Mississippi country, affortling 
extensive supplies of timber. But a very 
small ))ortion is broken, rocky or worthless 
land ; nearly all is arable. But few States 
are so well watered as Minnesota, and the 
numerous rivers and water-courses give ex- 
cellent drainage. A number of the rivers — 
the Mississippi, the Minnesota, the St. Croix", 
the St. Louis, the Red and the Red Lake riv- 
ers — are navigable, and nearly all of the 
balance afford water power. The lakes of 
Minnesota are among its principal physical 
characteristics. The estimate of 10,000 lakes 
in the State is not an unreasonable one. 

With all these natural advantages, favor- 
able climate and rich soil, Minnesota has 
become one of the most successful agricult- 
ural States in the Union, and stock-raising 
and dairying is I'apidly becoming a leading 
industry. Lumbering is also carried on very 
extensive]}', and tlie nianiifactuiing branch 
is raiiidlv becominj;- larji-c. "While at first it 
was supposed that this State was destitute 
of valuable minerals, recent discoveries prove 
to the contrary. Inexhaustible sujiplies of 
the best iron ore exist, and are now being 
mined and exported in large quantities. Sil- 
ver veins have also been found near the 
boundary line ; copper ore has also been 
found, and it is known that jilumbago and 
gold quartz exist. Building material, gi-an- 



liS 



124 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



ite, brownstone, limestone, sandstone and 
brick and potter's clay are abundant. 

A few words as to railroads and history 
relating to their construction will also be 
interesting. Twenty-five years ago (1-862), 
there were only ten miles of railway in 
operation in the State. At the close of 1885 
there were 6,721 miles in operation. The 
general government has granted to railroads 
within this State 12,151,527 acres of land, 
and the State has given 1,811,750 acres of 
swamp and other lands, making a total of 
13,933,277 acres of land within the State 
given to railroads, valued on the average at 
$5 per acre, making $69,666,385 thus given. 
In addition, local, countv and State bonds 
have been given them amounting to over 
$6,680,000, making in lands and cash a total 
gift of 876,496,385, or about $19,345 for 



every mile completed. There is material in 
these facts for an extended political essay, 
and they certainly furnish food for thought. 

In concluding these general remarks it 
may justly be said that the outlook for the 
State is most gratifying. Its population is 
rapidly increasing, and its taxable wealth 
increasing in similar ratio. Every year sees 
an enormous area of its rich soil brouglit 
under cultivation, while there are still mill- 
ions of acres awaiting the plow of the set- 
tler. 

The following table of census returns will 
show the growth of the State as to popula- 
tion: 1850, population 6,077; 1860, popula- 
tion 172,023 ; 1865, population 250.099 ; 1870, 
population 439,706; 1875, population 597, 
407; 1880, population 780,773, and in 1885 
the population was 1,117,798. 




CHAPTER II. 




HISTOEY OF MINNESOTA — FROM m>0 TO 1887. 



[IE first exploration by wliitcs of 
the teri'itdi'V wliicli now com- 
prises tlie State of ]\rimiesota 
dates baelv early into the seven- 
teenth century. It is claimed 
by good authority that Jean 
Nicolet (pi'onounced Nicolay), 
one of Cluunplain's interpretei's, 
was the first to spread knowl- 
edge of tlie countrv west of Lake Michio'un. 
As early as l(i.35 he set foot upon the 
western shores of Lake Michigan, and traded 
near Green Bay, also roaming over various 
portions of Wisconsin at about that time. 
In December of the same year he returned 
to Canada. It is veiy doubtful whether 
Nicolet ever set foot on Minnesota soil, 
although it is ceilain tiiat his visit to the 
country west of Lake Michigan was the 
means of spread i tig knowledge of this 
country, and of the aboiigines of Minnesota. 
It was said of him tiiat he penetrated far 
distant countries, and in a letter bearing 
date of ItJ-iti, it is stated that "if he had 
proceeded three days more on a river which 
flows from that. lake (Green Bay), he would 
have found the sea." The death of this 
explorer occurred at Three Ilivers in 1640. 

After Nicolet's visit to Wisconsin, for a 
quarter of a century history brings no trace 
of any explorations concerning this region. 
At the end of this time, in ItlfiO, the first 
white men of whom there is any reliable 
record, set foot on ilinnesota soil. They 
were Jledard Chouart, called Groselliers, 
and Pierre d'Esprit. who was known as Sieur 
Riidisson. Both were Frenchmen who had 
come to Canada when young men to engage 



in the fur trade. Aljout the middle of that 
century sevei'al important changes had been 
made in the location of Indian tribes. The 
Hurons and their allies, the Ottawas, after 
successive battles, had drifted to the west of 
Lake Michigan. In former times they had 
been located in the St. Lawrence region. 
Finally reaching the Mississippi they found 
the Iowa River. Later, returning to the 
]\rississippi, they settled upon an island in 
the river near where the city of Hastings 
is now located ; but becoming involved in 
battles with the Sioux, we finally find the 
Hurons located about the headwaters of 
the Chippewa}-, and the Ottawas on the 
shores of Lake Superior, near where Bay- 
field is now situated. It was to trade with 
the Indians that the two Frenchmen num- 
tioned, Groselliers and Radisson, made their 
trip to this wild region. ■ They passed the 
winter of 16.5!t-(J0 among the Sioux villages 
in tl)e Mille Lacs country, and the following 
spring and summer was s])ent in the region 
of Lake Su[H'i-i()r. In August, 1G60, they 
returned to Montreal, and their report of the 
country they had visited created much ex- 
citement. Within a few weeics an exploring 
and trading party was formed, and accom- 
panied by six Frcnciimen and two priests, 
one of whom was the Jesuit, Rene Menard, 
they again started wehtward, and on the 
15th of October, 1600, they reached the 
Ottawa settlement on the shores of Lake 
Su])erior. The objects of this party were 
various, some bent on exi)loration, others 
on trading, while Father ]\Ienard went as 
a missionary. Groselliers (pronounced Gro- 
say-ya) and Radisson, accompanied by others, 



126 



HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA. 



pushed on through the country to the 
northwest of Lake Superior and at length 
reached Hudson's Bay. They returned 
to Montreal in May, 1662. The names 
of all the members of this party have 
not been preserved. Groselliers and Kad- 
isson proceeded to Paris, thence to Lon- 
don, where they were well received by 
the nobility and scientific men. A vessel 
was fitted out and placed at their disposal, 
in the hope of finding a northwest passage 
to Asia. In June, 1668, they left England 
and made an extended voyage, reaching a 
tributary of Hudson's Bay and returning to 
England, where, in 16T0, the famous trading 
corporation, the '• Hudson's Bay Company," 
was chartered. 

Now to return to the venerable Father 
Menard, who had been left among the Ottawa 
Lidians on the shores of Lake Superior in 
October, 1660. For nearly a year he lived 
there in a cabin built of fir branches. In 
the summer of 1661 he decided to visit the 
Hurons, ^vho had fled eastward from the 
Sioux of Minnesota and were located among 
the woods of northern AVisconsin, as stated. 
He was accompanied by one Frenchman, 
whose name has been lost in the mist of 
years. Tliey became separated, and Father 
Menard was lost, as Perrot says, "in the 
labyrinth of trees." This was the last ever 
positively known of him, although his brevi- 
ary and cassock were said afterward to 
have been found among the Sioux Indians. 
Whether this good and venerable man 
starved or was murdered or captured by the 
Indians will forever be shrouded in mystery. 

These were the earliest exploitations of the 
Northwest of which any record has been left, 
but after that period this region was visited 
by various ])arties at long intervals, and 
manj' interesting documents have been pre- 
served giving accounts of their journeys and 
discoveries. 

About the year 1665 several French trad- 



ers and the Jesuit, AUouez, visited the coun- 
try off" the western shore of Lake Sujierior. 
Earh^ in 1679 we find Daniel G. Du Luth 
west of Lake Michigan, and it is believed he 
planted the French arms on Minnesota soil. 
His records state that '■ on July 2d he caused 
his Majesty's arms to be planted in the great 
village of the Nadousioux, called Kathio, 
and at Songaskicous and Houetbatons, one 
liundred and twenty leagues distant from 
the former." Kev. E. D. Neill in his 
tliorough work relating to early explorers of 
Minnesota, locates this as being "one hun- 
dred and twenty leagues beyond Mille 
Lacs." Du Luth states that at one point on 
JMinnesota soil he found upon a tree this 
legend: " Arms of the King cut on this tree 
in the year 1679."' He established several 
posts, carried on trading with the Indians, 
and was probabh' the most prominent of 
the early explorers. Later he was stationed 
near Lake Erie and died in 1710. His 
reports furnish much interesting information , 
regarding the early explorations in the 
Northwest. 

La Salle was given a commission by the 
King of France in 1678 to "explore tiie 
West," and do limited trading. He visited 
various parts of the Northwest. His jeal- 
ousy of Du Luth appears to form a consider- 
al)le portion of his official reports, but it is 
slated on good autliority that he wrote the 
fii'st description of the upper Mississippi 
Yallev, August 22, 16S2, some montl)s before 
the publication of Father Hennepin's first 
work, "Description de la Louisiane." He 
must, however, have obtained his information 
from one of Hennepin's men. 

Father Louis Hennepin's explorations and 
adventures througli the Northwest form an 
interesting chapter in the earlier history of 
this reeion. He was a native of Ath, an in- 
land town of the Netherlands, and had earlj^ 
assumed the robes of priesthood. In 1676 
lie came to Canada, and two years later "vas 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



127 



orderetl to join the La Salle exploring expe- 
dition. A ship was rigged, and on August 
7th, 1G79, its sails caught the breezes of 
Lake Erie — the first European vessel 
launched on the great lakes. La Salle con- 
ducted his expedition to Green Bay, tiicnce 
al()i\g the coast .of Lake Michigan, and al)out 
the middle of January, 1680, landed it on an 
eniinoiicc near Lake Peoria, on the Illinois 
Rivei', where he commenced the erection of 
Fort Crevecoeur. On the last of February of 
the same year. Father Hennepin, in company 
witli ^fichael Accault (Ako) and Angelle, 
left the fort to ascend the Mississippi Eiver. 
On tlie 11th of A])ril, 10«(t, after having 
reached a point north of the Chippewa liiver, 
they were met and taken charge of by a 
party of over a hundi'cd Sioux Indians. They 
then proceeded with the Indians to tiieir 
villages, nearly sixty leagues north of St. An- 
thony falls. They remained with the Indians 
some time, being well treated, and on the 
25t]i of July, 1680, they were met by I)u 
Lutii, wlio was accompanied by his interpie- 
ter, FalTai't, and several French soldiers. 
They tlicn proceeded to Mille Lacs, arriving, 
according to Father's Hennepin writings, on 
the 1 1th of August, 1680. In the latter part 
of September they started to return to the 
French settlement, passing by St. Anthony 
falls. Father Hennepin iml)lished two works 
relating to his discoveries, the first, '' De- 
scription de la Louisiane," in 1836; the sec- 
ond, " The New Discovery," in 1697. These 
works called forth much criticism, as there 
can be no doubt Hennepin greatly magnified 
his own importance, and exaggerated his 
services and iliscoveries. For instance, he 
claims to have descended the Mississippi 
River to the Gulf of Mexico, before proceed- 
ing northward, then returned and proceeded 
on to the St. Anthonv falls. This in the face 
of his own stated facts — leaving FortCreve- 
ca?ur the last of February, he claims to have 
made this wonderful trip, and arrived two 



miles south of whei-e the city of St. Paul is 
now located, late in April, giving the 11th 
of xVpril as the date of their capture by the 
Indians. However this may be, Father 
Hennepin's work was not in vain, and his 
memory is entitled to the credit for that 
which he did. His publications hastened and 
facilitated exploration, and iiis failing — if 
such it was — should lie treated with charity. 
La Salle speaks of him highly, but charitably 
says, " it was his failing to magnify those 
adventures which concerned him.'' 

Dui'ing 16S-I:, Nicholas Perrot and Le 
Sueur visited Lake Pepin, aiul the following 
winter the French traded with the Indians 
on Minnesota soil. Perrot had been ap- 
pointed by the governor of Canada as the 
commandant for tiie AVest, and was accom- 
panied by twenty men. Upon his arrival he 
caused a stockade to be built on the east 
bank of Lake Pepin, which bore his name 
for many years. He discovered a number of 
lead mines, and his name figures conspicu- 
ously in the histor}^ of the early French ex- 
plorations and frontier work. Perrot re- 
mained for some time after building the fort, 
then, in 1686, returned to Green Bay. He 
passed much time in collecting allies for the 
expedition against thelrcMjUoisin Xcw York, 
and in the spring of 1687, was with DuLuth 
and Tonty with the French and Indian allies 
in the expedition against tiie Senecas of the 
Genesee Valley in "New Yoi'k. The follow- 
ing year he was sent with a company of 
Frenchmen to i-eoccupy the post on Lake 
Pepin, in Minnesota, and it was in 1689 that 
Perrot, in the- presence of Father Josejth 
James Marest, a Jesuit, Boisguil)lot, a trader 
on the "Wisconsin and J\rississippi, and Le 
Seur, made a formal record of taking posses- 
sion of the Sioux counti'v in the name of the 
King of France. 

Le Sueur, who accompanied Perrot in his 
first trip to Lake Pepin in 1684, was inti- 
mately connected with that explorer's move- 



128 



HISTORY OF MIXXESOTA. 



inents. In 1692 Le Sueur was sent by Gov. 
Frontenac, of Canada, to the extremity 
of Lake Superior to maintain jieace between 
tlie Indian tribes. Entering the Sioux 
country, in 109-1-, he established a po.stupon a 
prairie island, nine miles below where Hast- 
ings is now located. He was accompanied 
by Penicaut and othero. Here they estab- 
lished a fort and storehouse and jiassed the 
winter, as game was ver\' aliuiulant. On 
Jul}^ 15, 1695, Le Sueur went l)ack to Mon- 
ti-eal accompanied by a ]iarty of Ojibways, 
and the first Dakotah brave that ever visited 
Canada. Le Sueur then visited France, and 
in 1697 received a license to open certain 
mines that were supposed to exist in Minne- 
sota. The ship in which he was returning 
was captured b^' the English, and he was 
taken to England ; when released he returned 
to France and secured a new commission, but 
it was afterward suspended. Fortunately, 
D'Tlberville, a kinsman of Le Sueur, was ap- 
pointed governor of the new territory of 
Louisiana, and in December, 1699, Le Sueur 
ai-rived from France with thirty workmen 
to proceed to the mines. During the next 
year he ascended the Minnesota River with 
his expedition, and in October, ITOO, built a 
fort on the Blue Earth River, which he 
named L'Huillier. This was occupied by 
Le Sueur's men until 1702, when it was 
abandoned because of the hostility of the 
Indians. Charlevoix, who visited the val- 
ley of the lower Mississippi in 1722, says that 
" Le Sueur spent at least one winter in his 
fort on the banks of the Blue Earth, and 
that in the following April he went up to the 
mine, ahout a mile ahove, and in twenty-two 
days they obtained more than 30.000 ]iounds 
of the substance — lead." Le Sueur estimated 
the Sioux Indians at that time as being 
four thousand families. 

In 1703 a little volume was published in 
France and England by Baron La Ilon- 
tan, giving an account of his " travels," in 



which he claimed to have penetrated and 
pursued explorations through the territory 
which now 'brms Minnesota, farther than 
any of hi" predecessors. He states that he 
found a river tributary to the Mississippi, 
and descriljes a journey of 500 miles up this 
stream, which he named Long River. His 
wonderful stoiy was believed at the time 
and the river was placed upon the early 
maps; but in later years it was discredited 
and is m>\\ by the closest students and ablest 
historians treated as fabulous. 

In September, 1727, Fort Beauharnois was 
erected and a French post established on the 
shores of Lake Pepin, under the directions of 
Sieur de la Perriere. An extensive trade 
was carried on with the Indians here, and it 
was occupied for a number of years. In 1728 
Veranderie, who had been placed in com- 
mand of a post on Lake Nepigon, began lay- 
ing plans for finding a co: iUiunication with 
the Pacific Ocean. An expedition was fitted 
out which left ilontreal in 1731, under the 
management of his sons and a nephew, De la 
Jemeraye, he not joining the party until 
1733. A fourth son joined the expedition 
in 1735. In tlie autumn of 1731, the party 
reached Rainy Lake, at the foot of which 
a post, called Fort St. Pierre, was erected. 
The next year they reached Lake of the 
"Woods, and established Fort St. Charles on 
its southwest bank. A few miles from Lake 
Winnepeg they established a post on the 
Assinaboine, and a fort was established on 
the Maurepas (Winnepeg) River. In June, 
1736, while twenty-one of the expedition 
were encamped on an isle in the Lake of the 
Woods, they were surprised by a band of 
Sioux Indians hostile to the French allies, 
and all were killed. The island on this ac- 
count is called Massacre Island. The re- 
maining portion of the expedition pro- 
gressed as best they could. October 3, 
1738, they built an advanced post called 
Fort la Reine on the Assinaboine River. 



HIS Ton y OF MINNESOTA. 



129 



They came in sight of the Rocky Mountains 
on tlie 1st of January, 1743, and, on tlie 
12th, ascended them. In 17-14, after phmt- 
ing a leaden plate of the arras of France in 
the upper Missouri Gountr\', they returned, 
reaching Minnesota soil late in June, and 
after establishing several posts in the ex- 
treme northern frontier country they finally 
returned to Montreal. Expeditions were 
afterward fitted out, one of which again 
reached the Rocky Mountains, but the clash 
of arms between France and England put 
an end to the explorations so far as the 
French were concerned. 

In 17(>3, by the treat}' of Versailles, France 
ceded IMinnesota east of tlie Mississippi to 
England and west of it to Spain. In 170(> 
Capt. Jonathan Carver, the first Eritish sub- 
jei-t, altliough a native of Connecticut, visited 
tiie Falls of St. Anthou}'. He spent some 
three years among the different tribes of 
Indians in the upper Mississippi country ; 
found tiie Indian nations at war and suc- 
ceeded in making peace between them. As 
a reward for his good offices, it is claimed 
that two chiefs of the Sioux, acting for their 
nation, at a council held with Carver at a 
great cave, now witliin the corporate limits 
of St. Paul, deeded to Carver a vast tract of 
land on the Mississipjii River, extending from 
the Falls of St. Anthony to the foot of Lake 
Pepin, on the Mississippi, thence east one 
hundred miles ; thence north one hundred 
and twenty miles; thence west to the place 
of beginning. Tiiis ])retended grant, how- 
ever, was examined bj"^ our government and 
totally ignored. 

At the beginning of the present century 
there were no white men in Minnesota, exce|)l 
the few engaged in the fur trade, and the posts 
were chiefly held by the Northwest Com- 
pany, which corporation in 1 7'. H erected a 
stnekade at Sandy I.ake. In 1S02 we find 
William Morrison trading at Leech Lake, and 
two years later at Itasca. In the meantime, 



in 1790, the laws of the ordinance of 17S7 
had been extended over the Xorlhwest, and 
on May 7, 1800, that part of Minnesota east 
of the Mississippi had become a part of In- 
diana by the division of Ohio. On the 20th 
of December, 1S03, that part of Minnesota 
west of the Mississippi, for forty years in tiie 
possession of Spain as a part of Louisiana, 
was ceded to the United States by Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who had just obtained it tiom 
Spain. In 1804 Upper Louisiana Territory 
was constituted. During the following year 
tlie United States for the first time sent an 
officer to Minnesota, in tiie [)erson of Lieut. 
Z. M. Pike, who estaljlished government re- 
lations and obtained the Fort Snellinji- i-eser- 
vation from the Dakotahs. He remained 
iiere for some time, but the war of 1S12 
coming on postponed the military' occupa- 
tion of the upper Mississippi by the United 
States for several years. Pike afterward 
fell in battle at York, in Upper Canada. 

In 1817 the Earl of Selkirk, a nobleman, 
visited the Scotch colony on the Red River, 
established in 1812, and ci'cated quite an ex- 
citement on the part of some of the United 
States authorities. The same year Mayor 
Stephen H. Long, of the United States En- 
gineer Corps, visited Minnesota and made a 
report recommending the bluff at the junc- 
tion of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers 
as a site for a fort. 

In 1819 Minnesota east of the Mississijipi 
River became a part of Crawford Countv, 
Mich. During the same year Fort Snell- 
ing was established and the site of Mendota 
was occupied liy tiie United States troops, 
under Col. Leavenworth. Major Taliaferro 
was a]>[)i)iiit('(I Indian agent. 

During the year 1S20 much of interest 
transpired on Minnesota soil. Early in the 
spring Jean Baptiste Faribault brouglit 
Leavenworth's horses from PrairieduChien. 
On the 5th of May Col. Leavenworth estab- 
lished summer quarters at Camp Coldwater, 



130 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



(Hennepin County). In July Gov. Cass, of 
Michigan, visited the camps. In August Col. 
Joshia ISnelling succeeded Leavenworth in 
command, and on the 20th of September the 
corner-stone of Fort Snelling (then Fort St. 
Anthony) was laid. On the 15th of April 
the superintendent of farming for Earl Sel- 
kirk left Prairie du Chien, having purchased 
seed wheat ; he ascended the Minnesota 
Piiver to Pig Stone Lake, where the boats 
were placed on rollers, dragged a short dis- 
tance to Lake Traverse, and reached Pembina 
June 3. This year the first marriage in 
Minnesota occurred, Lieut. Green to a 
daughtei' of Capt. Gooding. The first birth 
of a white child in the State occurred tliis 
year, a daughter to Col. Snelling; died the 
following year. 

In 18'21 Fort St. Anthony (Snelling) was 
sufficiently completed to be occupied by 
troops. During this year a sawmill was 
constructed at St. Anthony Falls for the use 
of the gai'rison under the supervision of 
Lieut. McCabe. 

Nothing of particular interest transpired 
during 1822. In 1823, however, the first 
steamboat, the Virginia, arrived at the mouth 
of the Minnesota River on the 10th of May, 
and created consternation among the Indians. 
Beltrami, the Italian, during the same year 
explored the northernmost sources of the 
Mississip]ii, and Maj. Long, of the United 
States army, visited the northern boundary 
by way of the Minnesota and Eed rivers. 
Millstones for grinding flour were sent to 
St. Anthony to be placed in the sawmill. 

In 182-1 Gen. Winfield Scott visited Fort 
St. Anthony, and at his suggestion the name 
was changed to Fort Snelling. 

After this time events crowd rapidly one 
after tlie other to fill in the time. From 
1825 on, the arrival of steamboats became 
more frecpient. During this year a heavy 
Hood visiteil the Ped Piver, and a portion of 
the colony were driven to Minnesota and 
settled near Fort Snelling. 



In 1832 Schoolcraft explored the sources 
of the Mississippi Piver, and during the fol- 
lowing year Pev. "W. T. Boutwell established 
the first mission among the Ojibways on 
Leech Lake. About the same time E. F. Ely 
opened a mission school at Atkins, a trading- 
post on Sandy Lake. 

That portion of Minnesota lying west of 
the Mississippi Piver was attached to Michi- 
gan in 1834. During this j'ear Gen. H. II. 
Sibley settled at Mendota as agent for the 
fur comjianv, and Samuel W. and Gideon 
11. Pond, missionaries among the Sioux, ar- 
rived. They were followed tlie next year 
by T. S. Williamson. J. D. Stevens and Alex- 
ander G. Iluggins, and in June, 183.5, a 
Presbyterian Church was organized at Fort 
Snelling. Late the same j'ear Maj. J. L. 
Pean, in accordance with the treaty of 1S2."J. 
survej'ed the Sioux and Chippeway bound- 
ary line as far as Otter Tail Lake. 

In 1836 the Territory of Wisconsin was 
organized, embracing all of Minnesota east 
of the Mississippi Piver; that territory west 
of the river being attached to Iowa. A 
number of steamboats arrived during this 
year, a passenger on one of them being the 
distinguished French astronomer, Jean N. 
Nicollet. 

In 1837 Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, made 
a treaty at Fort Snelling with the Ojib- 
wa\-s, by which the latter ceded all their 
pine lands on the St. Croix and its tributaries ; 
a treaty was also effected at Washington 
with a deputation of Dakotahs for their pine 
lands east of the Mississippi. These treaties 
led the way to the first actual settlements in 
the State. The treaty was ratilied by (Jon- 
gress in 1838. At about this time Franklin 
Steele made a claim at St. Anthony Falls; 
Pierre Parrant took a claim and built a cabin 
on the present site of St. Paul ; Jeremiah 
Pussell and L. W. Stratton made the first 
claim at Marine in the St. Croix Valley. 
During the year 1838 a steamboat arrived at 
Fort Snelling with J. N. Nicollet and J. C. 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



J31 



Fremont on a scientific expedition. Develop- 
ment begins in the St. Croix Valle}^ The 
noxt \'ear tiie ciiapel of '"St. Paul" was 
built and consecrated, giving the name to 
the capital of the State. 

ITeiii'v M. Eice arrived at Fort Snelling 
in 1S-±U, others came and in Novendjci', 1S41, 
St. Croix Counter -was established with 
" Dakotah " designated as the county-seat. 

On the 10th of October, 1843, a settlement 
was commenced on the present site of the 
city of Stillwater, and the erection of a saw- 
mill was immediately commenced. The 
names of the town proprietors were : John 
McKusick, from Maine ; Calvin Leach, from 
Vermont ; Elam Greele}', from Maine and 
Elias McKeane, from Pennsylvania. 

Dr. E. D. Neill in his " Explorers and Pio- 
neers of Minnesota," says that in 1846 " the 
site of St. Paul was chiefly occui>ied by a 
few shanties, owned by •cei'tain lewd fellows 
of the baser sort,' who sold rum to the sol- 
diers and Indians."' On the 6th of August, 
1846, the Wisconsin enabling act was passed. 

In 1S47 St. Ci-oix County was detnchcd 
from Crawford County, Wis., and reoi-gan- 
ized for civil and judicial purposes with Still- 
water as the county-seat. The town of St. 
I'aul was surveyed and platted, and recorded 
in St. Croix County. During this year the 
Wisconsin constitutional convention was held. 

On the 29th of May, 1848, Wisconsin was 
admitted to the Union, leaving Minnesota 
(with its present boundaries) without a gov- 
ernment, and on the 26th of the following 
August a convention was held at Stillwater 
to take measures foi- a separate tei-ritorial or- 
ganization. On the 30th of October, 1848, 
Henry II. Sible}' was elected delegate to 
Congress, and he was admitted to a seat 
January 15, 1849. March 3d, 1849, a bill 
was passed organizing ilinnesota Territory, 
and on the 10th of the same month territo- 
rial ollicers were appointed. .lune Isl Gov. 
Ramsey issued a proclamation declaring 



the territory organized, and on September 3d 
the first territorial Legislature assembled. In 
1851 the capital of the Stat(Mvas i)ermanent- 
ly located, as was also the penitentiary. In 
June, 1854, the first line of railway wascom- 
]Jeted to St. Paul. 

On the 23d of February, 1857, an act 
passed the United States Senate, to author- 
ize the people of Minnesota to form a consti- 
tution, preparatory to their admission to the 
Union. In June a constitutional convention 
was held, and the State constitution was 
framed. This was adopted on the 13th of 
October, 1857, and a full list of State officers 
was elected. On the 11th of May, 1858, the 
President approved of the bill admitting the 
State, and Minnesota was fully recognized as 
one of the United States of America. The 
first State officers wei'e sworn in on the 24tli 
of May. 

From this time on we can only bi'ielly re- 
view the most impoi'tant events tliiit have 
transpii'cd. A great tide; of immigration had 
set in eiirly in the "fifties," which raindly 
lilled u]) portions of the State, until in l.s.J7 
a census gave the State a total population of 
150,037. During that year, however, real 
estate speculation reached a climax, and the 
terrible financial panic occurred which great- 
ly retarded the settlement. 

In 1858 the State loan of $250,000 was 
negotiated ; five million loan bill was 
passed, being voted on Ajjril 15; great strin- 
gency in money market. 

During 1859 the hard times continued 
to intensify. "Wriglit County War" oc- 
curred ; " Glencoo" and "Owatoniia" money 
was issued ; work on the land grant roads 
ceased; collapse of the five million scheme; 
first export of grain that fall; liard jiolitical 
struggle, in which the Republicans tri- 
umphed. 

Another warm political canvass occurred 
in 1860; the census taken this year gave the 
State a total i)opulation of 172,123. 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



In 1861 war cast its gloom over the coun- 
try ; on April 13th the President's proclama- 
tion for troops was received ; the first regi- 
ment recruited at once, and June 22d it em- 
barked at Fort Snelling for the seat of war. 

In 1862 occurred the memorable Sioux 
outbreak ; August ITth, massacre at Acton ; 
August 18th, outbreak at Lo\ver Sioux 
Agency; lOtli, New Ulm attacked ; 20th, 
Fo]'t Ridgely attacked ; 25th, second attack 
on New Ulm ; 30th, Fort Abercrombie be- 
sieged ; September 1st, the bloody affair at 
Birch Coolie; 19th, first railroad in Minne- 
sota in o]ieration, between St. Paul and 
Minnea])olis ; 22(1, l^attle of "Wood Lake ; 
26th, ca]itives surrendered by the Indians at 
Camp Release; military commission tried 
321 Indians for murder, 303 condemned to 
die; December 26th, thirty-eight hung at 
Mankato. 

In 1863 Gen. Sibley conducted an expedi- 
tion to the Missouri River ; July 3d, Little 
Crow was killed ; July 24th, battle of Big 
Mound ; 26th, battle of Dead Buffalo Lake ; 
July 28th, battle of Stony Lake. 

In 18C-i the civil war was still in progress, 
and large levies for troops were made in 
Minnesota; expedition lo Missouri River, un- 
der Sully ; inflation of money market ; occa- 
sional Indian raids. 

In 1865 the war closed and peace returns ; 
Minnesota regiments return and are dis- 
banded ; in al!. 25,052 troops were fufnished 
by the State ; census showed 250,000 inhabi- 
tants. 

After the close of the war, and from 1866 
until 1872, " good times " prevailed ; immigra- 



tion was very heavy, and real estate and 
all values were inflated. The western por- 
j tion of the State received many settlers. 
Railway construction was very active. 

In 1873 the famous grasshopper raid began 
throughout the western part of the State, 
and continued about five seasons. January 
7-8-9 of this year, a terrible storm swept 
over the State, in which seventy persons per- 
ished. In September of the ^ame year, the 
financial "panic of 1873 " began. 

In 1874 and 1S75 nothing of especial im- 
portance occurred. 

On the 7th of September, 1876, an attack 
was made on the Bank of Xortiifield by a 
gang of armed outlaws from Missouri ; three 
of the latter were killed, and three were ca])t- 
ured. 

In 1877 biennial sessions amendment was 
adopted. 

In 1878 (May 2), three flouring mills at 
Minneapolis exploded, and eighteen lives 
lost. 

On November 15th. 1880, a portion of the 
hospital for the insane, at St. Peter, was de- 
stroyed b}- fire; eigliteen inmates were 
burned to death, seven died subsequently of 
injuries and fright, and six were missing. 
Total loss was .^150,000. 

In 1881 the State capitol at St. Paul was 
destroyed by fii-e. 

In 1884: tlie State prison, located at Still- 
water, was partly burned. 

In 1886 (April 14). a cyclone swept over 
St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids, demolishing 
scores of buildings, and killing about seventy 
people. 



CHAPTER III. 






THE INDIAN MASSACEE. 




HE outbreak of tlie Indians in 
1S02 furnislies one of tlie most 
interesting chapters in I\[inneso- 
ta's liistorv. At tlie time of this 
sad tragedy tliere were scat- 
tered tiiroughout the State vari- 
ous bands of Sioux Indians, a 
powerful and warlike nation. 
They included the Medawakontons (or Village 
of the Spirit Lake) ; ^Yapatons, (or Village 
of tiie Leaves) ; Sissetons (or Village of the 
Marsli). anil Wapakutas (or Leaf Shooters). 
These four tribes, numbering about six thou- 
sand and two hundred persons, comprised 
the entire annuity Sioux of Minnesota. 
All tiiese Indians had from time to time, 
from tlie 19tli of July, 1S15, to the date of 
the massacre in 1802. received presents from 
the government, by virtue of various treaties 
of amity and friendship. From the time of 
the treaty of St. Louis in ISKJ, these tribes 
had remained friendly to the whites, and 
had l)y treaty stipulations parted with all 
tlie lands to which tiiey claimed title in 
Iowa ; all on the east side of the Mississippi 
River, and all on the Minnesota River in 
Minnesota, except certain reservations. One 
of these reservations lay upon both sides of 
the Minnesota ten miles on eiiher side of 
that stream, from Hawk River on the nortii 
to Yellow Medicine River on the south side, 
thence westerly to the head of Big Stone Lake 
and Lake Traverse, a distance of about one 
hundi-ed miles. Another of these reserva- 
tions commenced at Little Rock River on 
the east and a line running due south from 
its mouth, and extending up the river 
westerly to the eastern line of the reserva- 



tion first named, at the Hawk and Yellow 
Medicine rivers. The last also had a width 
of ten miles on eacli side of the Minnesota 
River. 

Early in 1858 a scheme was devised l)y 
the authorities at Washington for the civili- 
zation of these annuity Indians. A civiliza- 
tion fund was providetl, to be taken from their 
annuities and expended in inipioving the 
lands of such as should abandon their tribal 
relations and adopt the liabits and modes of 
life of the wliites. To all such, lands were 
assigned in severalty, eighty acres to the 
head of each family, on which sliould be 
erected the necessary farm buildings, and 
farming implements and cattle furnished 
him. At the time of the outbreak about one 
hundred and seventy-five Indians had taken 
advantage of the provisions of this treaty 
and become " farmer Indians." A great 
majority of the Indians, however, disliked 
the idea of taking any portion of their gen- 
eral fund to carry out the civilization scheme. 
Those who retained the blanket, called 
"blanket Indians," denounced the measure 
as a fraud, as it was slowly but surely 
destroying what was, to them, their God- 
given right to the chase. The result, in brief, 
of this civilization scheme was this : After 
the chase was over the "blanket Indians" 
would pitcli their tents about the homes of 
the "farmer Indians" and proceed to eat 
them out of house and home, and when the 
ruin was complete, the "farmer" with his 
wife and children, driven by necessity, would 
again seek temporary sul)sistence in the 
chase. During their absence the "blanket 
Indians" would commit whatever destruc- 



1S3 



134 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



tion of fences or tenements their desires or 
necessities would sugo-est. In this wav the an- 

OCT 1. 

nual process continued, so that when the 
"farmer Indian" returned to his desolate 
home in the spring to prepare again for a 
cro]3, he looked forward to no different re- 
sults for the coming winter. It will thus be 
seen that the civilization scheme was an ut- 
ter failure. 

The treaty referred to, of 1858, had opened 
for settlement a vast frontier country of the 
most attractive character in the valley of 
the Minnesota River, and on the streams put- 
ting into the Minnesota on either side, such 
as Beaver Creek, Sacred Heart, Hawk and 
Ciiippewa rivers, and some other small 
streams, there were flourishing settlements 
of white families. Within this ceded tract, 
ten miles wide, were the scattered settle- 
ments of Birch Coolie, Patterson Eapids, 
and others as far up as the upper agency at 
Yellow Medicine, in Renville County. The 
county of Brown adjoined the reservation, 
and was at that time settled mostly by Ger- 
mans. Here was also the flourishing town 
of New Ulm, and further on was a thriving 
settlement on the Big Cottonwood and 
Watonwan. Other counties, Blue Earth, 
Nicollet, Sibley, Meeker, McLeod, Kandiyohi, 
Monongalia and Muri'ay, together with others 
somewhat removed from the direct attack of 
the Indians, as Wright, Stearns and Jackson, 
and even reaching on the north to Fort 
Abercrombie, thus extending from Iowa to 
the valley of the Red River of the North, 
were severally involved in the consequences 
of the warfare of 1862. This extended area 
had a population estimated at over fifty 
thousand. 

Early in the fifties complaints began to be 
made l)y the Indians, and dissatisfaction be- 
gan to be manifest. By the treaty of Trav- 
erse des Sioux, dated July 23, 1851, between 
the United States and the Sissetons and 
Wapatons, $275,000 was to be paid their 



chiefs, and a further sum of $30,000 was to 
be expended for their benefit in Indian im- 
provements. By the treaty of Mendota, 
dated August 5, 1851, the Medawakantons 
and Wapakutas were to receive the sum of 
8200,000, to be paid to their chief, and a fur- 
ther sum of $30,000. These several sums 
amounting in the aggregate to $550,000, 
these Indians, to whom they were payable, 
claim they Avere never paid, except perhaps 
a small portion expended in im[)i'oveinents. 
This led to great dissatisfaction, of which 
the government was fully apprised. Several 
parties were at different times sent out by th« 
Indian department of the government to in- 
vestigate into the causes, but the rascality 
of the agents and officers who had defrauded 
the Indians had been carefully covered up, 
and as usual in such cases the guilty parties 
were exculpated. Tliis was one of the lead- 
ing and most important causes whicii led to 
the massacre of 1862. 

Another cause of irritation among these 
annuity Sioux arose out of the Spirit Lake 
massacre of 1857 — known as the Inkpadutah 
massacre. Inkpadutah was an outlaw of 
the Wapakuta band of Sioux Indians, and 
his acts were entirely disclaimed by the " an- 
nuity Sioux."' He had committed murder in 
his own trilje some twenty years previous, 
and since had ledawanderinji'andmarautlino: 
life about the headwaters of the Des Moines 
River and westward to Dakota. Finally his 
outrages reached aclimax, when early in 1857 
with a few of his followers, he proceeded to 
murder evei'y family in the little settlement 
about Spirit Lake, Iowa, except four women 
whom the}' bore away captives. From there 
they went to the Springfield settlement (on 
the present site of Jackson, Minn.), where they 
murdered seventeen people, making a total of 
forty seven persons killed. They then re- 
treated westward. Shortly after the mas- 
sacre at Springfield (now Jackson) a com- 
2)any of regular soldiers under Capt. Bee 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



135 



was stationed at that place, and had the 
otticei' been a zealous or capable one miglit 
easily have overtaken and punisiied them. 
Asstateii the" annuity Sioux "(lischiinied the 
acts of this outlaw ; but for a time the gov- 
ernment refused to pay the annuities until 
they should deliver up the murderers. In a 
short time, however, the government let the 
matter drop, and continued to pay the an- 
nuities as before. Some thought that this 
was a great error and that the Indians mis- 
took it for a sign of weakness. 

However that may be, as time went on 
the Intlians became more and more insolent, 
and Little Crow, together with a few leaders 
among the annuity Sioux, from the time the 
government ceased its efforts to punish Ink- 
padutah, began to agitate and plan the great 
conspii'acy to <lrive the whites from the'State 
of ]\[innesota. Little Crow was one of the 
" farmer Indians," whose headquarters was 
a short distance above the Lower Agency, 
who is credited with being the leader in the 
outiji'eak against the whites. 

The antecedent exciting causes of this 
massacre are numerous. The displaced 
agents and traders find the cause in the er- 
roneous action of the government, resulting 
in their removal from office. The statesman 
and the philosopher may imite in tracing the 
cause to improper theories as to the mode of 
acquiring the right to Indian lands. The 
former may locate the evil in our system of 
treaties, and the latter in our theories of gov- 
ernment. Tiie piiilanthroi)ist may find the 
cause in the absence of justice which we ex- 
hibit in all our intercour.se with the Indian 
races. The poet and the lovers of romance 
in human character find the true cause, as 
they believe, in the total absence of all aji- 
preciation of the noble, generous, conliiling 
traits peculiar to the native Indian. Tiie 
Ciiristian teacher finds ajxjlogies for acts of 
Indian atrocities in the tieficient systems of 
mental and moral culture. Each of these 



different classes are satisfied that the great 
massacre of August, LSt;2, had its origin in 
some way intimately connected with his 
favorite theory. 

Maj. Thomas Gall)raith, Sioux agent, 
says, in writing of the causes which led to 
the massacre : " The radical, movinsr cause 
of the outbreak is, I am satisfied, the in- 
grained and fixed hostility of the savage bar- 
barian to reform and civilization. As in all 
barliai'ous communities in the history of the 
world the same j)eople have, for the most 
part, resisted the encroachments of civiliza- 
tion upon their ancient customs, so it is in 
the case before us. Nor does it matter ma- 
terially in what shajjc civilization makes its 
attack. Hostile, opposing forces meet in 
conflict, and a war of social elements is the 
result — civilization is aggressive, and Ijar- 
barism stubbornly i-esistant. Sometimes, 
indeed, civilization has achieved a Ijloodless 
victoiy, but genei'ally it has been otherwise. 
Christianity, itself, the true basis of civiliza- 
tion, has, in most instances, waded to success 
through seas of blood. . . . Havino- 
stated thus much, I state, as a settled fact 
in my mind, tiiat the encroachments of 
Christianity, and its handmaid, civilization, 
upon the habits and customs of the Sioux 
Indians, is the cause of the late terrible Sioux 
outbreak. There were, it is true, manv im- 
mediate inciting causes, which will be allud- 
ed to and stated hereafter, but they are sub- 
sidiary to, and developments of, or incident 
to, the great cause set forth. . . . l!ut 
that the recent Sioux outbreak would have 
happened at any rate, as a result, a fair con- 
setjuence of the cause here stated, I have no 
doubt. 

" Now as to the existing or immediate 
causes of the outbreak : l!y my predecessor a 
new and radical system was inaugurated; 
practically, and in its inauguration, he was 
aided by the Christian missionaries and bv 
the government. The treaties of 1858 were 



136 



HISTOR Y OF MINNESOTA. 



ostensibly made to carry this new system 
into effect. The theory, in substance, was 
to brealv up the community system which 
obtained among the Sioux, weaken and de- 
stroy their tribal relations, and individualize 
them, by giving them each a separate home. 
On tlie 1st day of June, A. D. 
1861, when I entered upon the duties of my 
office, I found that the system had just been 
inaugurated. Some hundred families of the 
annuity Sioux iiad become novitiates, and 
tiieir relatives and friends seemed to be 
favorably disposed to the new order of 
things. But I also found that, against these 
were arrayed over five thousand ' annuity 
Sioux,' besides at least three tliousand Yank- 
tonais, all inflamed bj' the most bitter, re- 
lentless and devilish hostility. 

" I saw, to some extent, the difficulty of 
the situation, but I determined to continue, 
if in my power, the civilization system. To 
favor it, to aid and build it up by every fair 
means, T advised, encouraged, and assisted 
the farmer novitiates ; in short I sustained 
tiie policy inaugurated by my predecessor, 
and sustained and recommended by the gov- 
ernment. I soon discovered that the system 
could not ])e successful without a sufficient 
force to protect the 'farmer' from the lios- 
tility of the ' blanket' Indians. 

" During my term, and up to the time of 
the outbreak, about 175 had their hair cut 
and had adopted the habits and customs of 
the white men. 

" For a time, indeed, my hopes were strong 
that civilization would soon be in tiie as- 
cendant. But tlie increase in the civilization 
party and their evident prosperity, only 
tended to exasperate the Indians of the ' an- 
cient customs,' and to widen the breach. But 
while these are to be enumerated, it may be 
permitted me to hope that the radical cause 
will not be forgotten or overlooked ; and I 
am bold to express this desire, because, ever 
since the outbreak, the public journals of the 



countr\% religious and secular, have teemed 
with editorials by and communications from 
' reliable individuals,' })oliticians, philanthro- 
pists, philosophers and hired ' penny-a-liner.s,' 
mostly mistaken and sometimes willfully 
and grossly false, giving the cause of the 
Indian raid." 

Maj. Galbraith enumerates a variety of 
other exciting causes of the massacre, which 
our limit will not allow us to insert in tliis 
volume. Among other causes, . . that 
the United States was itself at war, and that 
Washington was taken by the negroes. .. . 
But none of these were, in his opinion, the 
cause of the outbreak. 

The Major then adds : 

"Grievances such as have been related, 
and numberless others akin to them, were 
spoken of, recited, and chanted at their 
councils, dances and feasts, to such an extent 
that, in their excitement, in June, 18C2, a 
secret organization known as the 'Soldiers' 
Lodge ' was founded by the young men and 
soldiers of the lower Sioux, witii the object, 
as far as I was able to learn through spies 
and informers, of preventing the ' traders ' 
from going to the pay-tables, as had been 
their custom. Since the outbreak I have 
become satisfied that the real object of this 
' Lodge ' was to adopt measures to ' clean 
out ' all the white people at the end of the 
payment." 

Whatever may have been the cause of the 
fearful and bloody tragedy, it is certain that 
the manner of the execution of tlie infernal 
deed was a deep-laid conspiracy, long cher- 
isiied by Little Crow, takingform under the 
guise of the " Soldiers" Lodge," and matured 
in seci'et Indian councils. In all these secret 
movements Little Crow was the moving 
spirit. 

Now the opportune moment seemed to 
have come. Only tliirty soldiers were sta- 
tioned at Fort Eidgely. Some thirty were 
all that Fort Kipley could muster, and at 



//ISrOA'y OF .\//X.VES0 7A. 



'37 



Fort Abercrombie, one company under Capt. 
Van Der IJoik was all tlie whites could 
dopend upon to repel any attack in that 
quarter. The whole eflfective force for the 
defense of the entire frontier, from Pendjina 
to the Iowa line, did not exceed 200 men. 
The annuity money was daily expected, and 
no troops except about one hundred men at 
Yellow Medicine, had been detailed, as usual, 
t to attend the anticijiated i)ayment. Here 
was a glittering prize to be paraded before 
tlie minds of the excited savages. The 
whites were weak ; they were engaged in a 
terrible war among- themselves; their atten- 
tion was now directed toward the great 
stru<re:le in the South. At such a time, offer- 
ing so many chances for rapine and plunder, 
it would be easy to unite at least all the 
annuity Indians in one common movement. 
Little Crow knew full well that the Indians 
could easily be made to believe that now 
was a favorable time to make a grand attack 
upon the border settlements. 

A memorable council convened at Little 
Trow's village, near the lower agency, on 
Sunday night, August 3, previous to the 
attack on Fort Ridgely, ami precisely two 
weeks befoi'e the massacres at Acton. Little 
Crow was at tliis council, and he was not 
wanting in abilit\- to meet the greatness of 
the occasion. The proceedings of this council, 
of course, were secret. The conned matured 
tlie details of the conspiracy It a})pears 
tiiat the next day, August 4, a party of 
ninety-six Indians in war paint and fully 
armed, rode up to Fort Ridgel}' and re- 
quested ]>ermission to hold a dance anil feast 
in the fort. They were allowed to hold the 
dance outside the fort, but Sergeant Jones, 
with singular foresight, mounted a howitzer 
charged with shell and canister-shot and 
guarded the entrance, having it pointed 
toward the Indians. After finishing the 
dance the red-skins left without making the 
attack, which had undoubtedly been medi- 



tated. Only thirty soldiers occupied the 
post at Fort Eidgely, and this was deemed 
amply sufficient for times of peace. 

On the same day a gi'cat many Indians 
were encamped about the Upper Agency. 
They were afraid they would not get their 
annuity money, which had not arrived as 
yet. They had been complaining bitterly 
of starvation, and on this day made an 
attack on the warehouse, carrying off a 
great deal of flour ami other provisions. 
The matter, however, was finally adjusted, 
and the agent issued rations, promising to 
distribute their money as soon as it should 
arrive. K^one of the Indians, however, were 
])unished for their attack on the supply 
house. 

We now come to the massacre itself, the 
first blow of which fell upon the town of 
Acton, in Meeker County, about thirty-five 
miles northeast of the Lower Sioux Agency. 
On Sunday, August 17, 1862, six Sioux In 
dians brutally murdered a man named Jones, 
with his wife and a daughter, and a man 
named Webster and Howard Baker. 

On the next day, Mondav, the massacre 
at the Lower Agency occurred, where many 
were killed and fearfully mutilated. A few 
escaped and made their way to the eastern 
settlements. The Indians declared it to be 
tlieir intention to kill or drive off all the 
wliites to the east of the ^Mississippi River, 
and to spare none. All tliat day the work 
of plunder went on at the lower agency, 
and when the stores and dwellings had been 
emptied, they were fired. So complete was 
the surprise and so sudden and unexpected 
the terrible blow that not a single one of the 
host of savages was slain. In thirty min- 
utes from tlie time the first gun was fired 
not a white person was left alive. Ail 
were either weltering in their gore or had 
fled in fear and terror from that place of 
death. It seems that iuindrcds of the In- 
dians had gathered here and then dispersed 



I3S 



HISTORY OF M/.Y.VESOTA. 



through the scattered settlements for their 
murderous work. 

On the same mornincr — of August IS — 
the massacre began on the north side of the 
Minnesota River, from Birch Coolie to 
Beaver Creek and bevond, and the re<;'ion 
was strewn with the mutilated bodies of the 
dead and dying men, women and children. 
So the terrible warfare continued, murder- 
ing and burning ; none were allowed to es- 
cape who could possibly be discovered. The 
outbreak extended ovei-a vast scope of coun- 
try, and the Indians numbered well up into 
the thousands. The entire length of the 
Minnesota and its tributaries, and out into 
Dakota, together with all the western part 
of this State was the scene ever\'where of a 
carnival of blood. The counties affected 
have already been named. 

On the ISth of August the Indians at- 
tacked New Ulm, and after several battles 
and skirmishes were defeated. A few days 
later tlie whites evacuated the town and 
moved toward Mankato. 

On the ISth of August the battle at Lower 
Agency Ferry was fought. 

On the 20th, seeing they were foiled in 
their attack on New Ulm, they made a 
furious assault on Fort Ridgely. A number 
of whites were killed and wounded, but the 
Indians were defeated. The attack was re- 
newed on the 22d and another severe battle 
occurred, which was ended by night coming 
on. 

Numerous engagements were also fought 
in the northern part of the State. 

Throuohout all the Minnesota River coun- 
try many women and children were taken 
prisoners. In the meantime companies had 
been raised and were everywhere following- 
up the Indians and guarding the various posts 
at which the settlers had gathered. These 
various companies had also picked up a great 
ninny wounded found on tlie prairies. and also 
buried the dead. On the 1st of Septe.uber, 



Compau}' A, Sixth Regiment Minnesota Vol- 
unteers, under Capt. H. P. Grant, fought 
the battle of Birch Coolie, a most terrible 
and blood}' engagement. The noble little 
band of soldiers were relieved on September 
3, by an advance movement of Col. Sibley's 
forces at Fort Ridgely. The signal tlefeat 
of Little Crow at this battle, in effect, ended 
the efforts of the Indians in subduing the 
whites on the border. After this battle all 
of the Indian forces under Little Crow be- 
/an a retreat up the valley of the Minnesota 
toward Yellow Medicine; and on Septem- 
ber 16, Col. Sibley, with his whole column, 
moved in pursuit of the fleeing foe, and on 
the 23d they came up with the Indians and 
defeated them in the battle of Wood Lake. 
This put an end to the hopes of Little Crow. 
On the same day as the battle of Wood Lake, 
the Wapeton band of Indians surrendered 
later and turned over to Col. Sibley all the 
captives — 107 whites and 102 half-breeds. 
This place has since been known as '• Camp 
Release." 

After the disaster at Wood Lake, Little 
Crow retreated in the direction of Big Stone 
Lake, with those who remained with iiini. 
The chief was never captured, but is said to 
have been killed at Scattered Lake in 1863. 
Col. Sibley continued to pursue the deserting 
Indians, and demanded the surrender of all 
bands. By the Sth of October, 1862, prison- 
ers had come in and surrendered to the num- 
ber of 2,000. Scouting ]iarties were sent 
over various parts of the West, and, until all 
danger of further depredations was ] ast, 
soldiers were stationed at all of the frontier 
posts and settlements. 

A military commission was soon after 
inaugurated to try the parties charged with 
murder of white persons. On the 5th of 
November, 1862, 321 Indians and their allies 
were found guilty, and 303 were recom- 
mended for capital punishment, and the 
others for imprisonment. They were im- 



JUS roK y of mi.vneso ta. 



139 



mediately removed under a guard of 1,500 
men to South Bend, on the Minnesota River, 
to await fui'ther orders from the govern- 
ment. Tlfe final decision of the President 
was rendered on the ITth of December, 1862, 
orderin": that forty of these be huno; on Fri- 
day, December 26. One of these died a 
short time before the day set, and one other, 
a lialf ])reed, had his sonfonce conimiited to 
imprisonment for life just before the fatal 



day. As to the other thirty-eight the sen- 
tence was executed at Mankato on the day set. 
On the 16th of February, 1SG3, the trea- 
ties before that time existing between the 
United States and these "annuity Indians" 
were abrogated and annulled, and all lands 
and rights of occupancy, and all annuities 
and claims then existing in favor of said 
Indians, weredeclarcd forfeited. Thusended 
the saddest chapter ot Minnesota's history. 




CHAPTER IV. 



TEREITORIAL AND STATE OFFICERS. 




TERKITOEIAL OFFICERS. 



HE first governor of the Ten'i- 
tor\' of Minnesota was Alexander 
Ramsey, who served from June 
1, 1S49, to May 15, 1853. WiUis 
A. Gorman succeeded him, and 
held the office until April 23) 
1857. Samuel Medary was the 
next territorial governor, and 
held the office until the State 
officers were sworn in. May 24, 1858. 

The first secretary of the Territory was 
Charles K. Smith, who served from June 1, 
ISiO, until October 23, 1851, when Alexander 
"Willvin qualified and held the office until 
May 15, 1853. Joseph Travis Rosser was 
the next, and served until April 23, 1857. 
Charles L. Chase, the last territorial sec- 
retary, qualitied on tlic date last named and 
served until succeeded l)y the newly chosen 
secretary of state, May 24, 1858. 

The office of territorial treasurer was first 
filled by Calvin A. Tuttle, who served from 
November 3, 1849, to July 2, 1853. George 
W. Prescott came next and retained the 
position until February 24, 1854. Succeed- 
ing him Charles E. Leonard served until 
May 7, 1857, when George W. Armstrong 
was appointed and served until the State 
officers qualified, May 24, 1858. 

J. E. McKusick was the first territorial 
auditor, qualifying November 3, 1849, and 
serving until November 30, 1852. A. Van 
Vorhees succeeded him and held the office 
until the 15th of May, 1853, when Socrates 
Nelson qualified. Januarj^ 17, 1854, Julius 
Georgii took chai'ge of the office and served 
iintil succeeded by the State auditor, May 
24, 1858. 



During the existence of the Territory of 
Minnesota, Lorenzo A. Babcock and then 
Lafayette Emmett were the only ones to 
hold the office of attorney general. The 
first named served from June 1, 1849, until 
May 15, 1853, and the latter from 1853 until 
May 24, 1858. 

In territorial times there were no district 
judges, but the justices of the supreme court 
attended to all judicial matters now within 
the jurisdiction of the district bench. The 
first chief justice of the territorial supreme 
court was Aaron Goodrich, who served from 
June 1, 1849, to November 13, 1851, when 
Jerome Fuller was appointed and presided 
until December Ifi, 1852. Henry Z. Ilayner 
was next appointed, but never presided at a- 
term of court. William H. Welch was ap- 
pointed April 7, 1853, and served until May 
24, 1858. 

David Cooper and Bradley B. Meeker 
were the first associate justices, and served 
from June 1, 1849, until April 7, 1853. 
Their successors were Andrew G. Chatfield 
and Moses G. Sherburne, who retained the 
positions until April, 1857, and were fol- 
lowed by R. R. Nelson and Charles E. 
Flandrau, who served until the State officers 
quabfied. 

The clerks of the territorial sujireme court 
were : James K. Humphrey, Andrew J. Whit- 
ney and George W. Prescott, in the order 
named. The reporters were : William Hol- 
linshead, Isaac Atwater, John B. Brisbin, M. 
E. Ames and Harvey Officer. 

Henry H. Sibley was the fii'st delegate 
from the Territory to Congress, serving from 
January 15, 1849, to March 4, 1853. Henry 



uo 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



141 



M. Rice was the second, serving from De- 
coinluM- 5, 1853, to March 4, 1857. wlicu he 
was succoodod by W. W. Kingsl)in'v, who 
qualilied Deconiber 7, 1857, and whose term 
expired May 11, 1858. 

STATE OFFICEKS. 

Tlio governors of the State of Minnesota, 
in their order iiave been as follows: Henry 
II. Sibley, from May 2-1, 1858, to January 2, 
1860 ; Alexander liamsey, to July 10, 1863 ; 
Henry A. Swift, to January 11, 1864; 
Stepiien Miller, during 1864-5 ; William E. 
Mai'shall, during 1866-7-8-9 ; Horace Aus- 
tin, during 1870-1-2-3; Caslmian K. Davis, 
during 1874-5; John S. PiUsbury, during 
1S76-7-8-9-S0-81 ; Lucius F. Hubbard, dur- 
ing 1882-3-4-5-6, and A. R. McGill, the 
jirescnt governor, who assumed the duties of 
the ollii'e January 5, 1887. 

The lieutenant governors since the organ- 
ization of the State have been as follows : 
William Ilolcomb, from ilay 24, 1858, to 
January 'J, 1860; Ignatius Donnell}', to 
Mareh 3, 1863 ; Henry A. Swift, to July 10, 
18(!3; Charles D.Sherwood, during 1864-5; 
Thomas H. Armstrong, during 1866-7-8-9 ; 
William II. Yale, during 1870-1-2-3; Al- 
phonzo Barto, during 1874-5 ; James E. 
Wakefield, during 1876-7-8-9 ; C. A. Gill- 
man, during 1880-1-2-3-4-5-6, and A. E. 
Rice, who qualified January 4, 1887. 

The office of secretary of State has been 
filled successively" by the following gen- 
tlemen : Francis Baasen, from Ma\' 24, 1858, 
to January 2, I861) ; James 11. Baker, to 
November 17, 1862 ; David Blakely, to Janu- 
ary 8, 1866; Henry C. Rogers, during the 
years 1866-7-8-9 ; Hans Mattson, during 
1870-1 ; S. P. Jennison, during 1872-3-4-5 ; 
John S. Irgens, during 1876-7-8-9; Fred. 
Von BaumiKich, during 1880-1-2-3-4-5-6, 
and Hans Mattson, during 1887-8. 

The State treasurers have been as follows: 
George W. Armstrong, from May 24, 1858, 



to January 2, 1860; Charles Scheffer, during 
1860-1-2-3-4-5-6-7; Emil Munch, during 
1868-9-70-1 ; William Seegei', fi'om January 
5, 1872. to February 7, 1873 ; Edwin AV. Dyke, 
to January 7, 1876 ; William Pfaender, dur- 
ing 1876-7-8-9 ; Charles Kittelson, during 
1880-1-2-3-4-5-6, and J(jseph Bobleter, tlu; 
present treasurer, who was elected for 
1887-8. 

The auditors of State have been as fol- 
lows : W. F. Dunbar, from May 24, 1858, 
to January 1, 18(;i ; Charles Mcllrath to 
January 13, 1873; O. P. Whilcomb, to Jan- 
uary 10, 1882, and W. W. Braden, who is 
the present incumbent of the office. 

The office of attorney general has been 
filled as follows : Charles H. Berry, served 
from May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860; Gor- 
don E. Cole, served during 1860-1-2-3-4-5 ; 
AVilliam Colville, during 1866-7; F. R. E. 
Cornell, during 1868-9-70-1-2-3 ; George P. 
AViison, during 1874-5-6-7-8-9 ; Charles M. 
Stai't, from January 10, 1880, to March 11, 
1881 ; W. J. Hahn, to Januaiy 5, 1887, and 
Moses E. Clapp. tlu^ present attorney general. 

The present Ijoiird of I'ailroad commission- 
ers is made up of Horace Austin, John L. 
Gibbs and George L. Becker. Those who 
have composed the board in the past were: 
A. J. Edgerton, AV. R. Marshall, J. J. Ran- 
dall, J. II. Baker and S. S. ]\[urdoek. 

Edward D. Neill was the first superintend- 
ent of public instruction for Minnesota. He 
was appointed in March, 1860, and on the 
1st of July, 1861, was succeeded by B. F. 
Crary. From 1862 to 1867 the secretary of 
State was ex-officio .superintendent, but on 
April 1, 1867, M. H. Dunnell was appointed 
superintendent, and served until August, 
1870, when he was succeeded by II. B. AVii- 
son. April 3, 1875, David Burt was ap- 
pointed superintendent, and retained the 
office until succeeded by the present incum- 
bent, D. L. Iviehl, who was apjiointed Sep- 
tember 1, 1881. 



142 



HISTORY Of .MIXNESOTA. 



The office of insurance commissioner has 
been held in turn by Pennock Pusey. A. P. 
McGill and Charles Shandrew ; the last 
named gentleman having been appointed 
January 6, 1887, is the present commissioner. 

The commissioners of statistics liave been 
as follows : J. A. Wheelock, Pennock Pusev, 
C. F. Solberg, J. B. Phillips, T. M. Metcalf, 
J. P. Jacoljson, F. Sneedorff, Oscar IMalmros, 
A. F. JSTordin, Victor Hjortsberg and Her- 
man Stockenstrom. 

The following is a list of the gentlemen 
who have iilled the office of adjutant-gen- 
eral : Alex. C. Jones, W. H. Acker, John B. 
Sanborn, Oscar Mahnros, John Peller, PI. P. 
Van Cleve, M. D. Flower, H. A. Castle, H. 
P. Van Cleve, A. C. Hawley, C. M. McCar- 
tliy and F. W. Seeley. 

JUDICIARY. 

The first chief justice of the supreme court 
of the State was Lafayette Emmett, who 
was sworn in May 24, 1858, and served until 
January 10, 1865. Thomas Wilson suc- 
ceeded him and served until July 14, ISfiO, 
when he was succeeded bv James Gillillan. 



Christopher G. Piplej' was the next, holding 
the oosition from Januar}' 7, 1870, until 
April 7, 1874, when he was followed by S. 
J. P. McMillan, who served until March 10, 
1875. At that time James Gilfillan became 
chief justice, and is the present incuml)ent. 

The following statements will show the 
associate justices, together with the date of 
qualification of each : Charles E. Flaiidrau 
and Isaac Atwater served fi'om IMav 24, 
1858, to July 6, 1864; S. J. K. McMillan 
from July C,"^1864, to April 7, 1874; Thonuxs 
Wilson from July 6, 1864, to January -10, 
1865 ; George B. Young fi'om April 16, 
1874, to January 11, 1875 ; F. Pt. E. Cornell 
from January 11, 1875, to May 23, 1881, and 
Greenleaf Clark from March 14, 1881, to 
January 12, 1882. The jn-esent associate 
justices are John M. Berry, who first quali- 
fied January 10, 1865 ; D. A. Dickinson, 
since June 27, 1881; William Mitchell, since 
March 14, 1881, and C. E. Vanch^rburgh, 
since January 12, 1882. 

As to district courts, the State is now 
divided into thirteen districts. 




CHAPTER V. 



REPRESENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS, AND THE 

CREATION OF COUNTIES. 




lENATORS. ThefirstUnited States 
Senators from Minnesota were 
James Shields and lleniy M. Rice, 
who took the oath of office May 
11. 1S5S. Tlie former was suc- 
ceeded on ]\[arch -ftli, ISfio, by 
]\[orton S. Wilkinson, who served 
the full term. Daniel S. Norton 
was swoi-n in to succeed AYilkin- 
son, March 4, ISO", and died 
while in office, July 14, 1870. O. 
P. Stearns was appointed, and served out the 
few weeks left of the term. William Win- 
dom came next, and retained the office until 
March 12, 1S81, when lie was succeeded by 
A. J. Edgerton, who resigned, however, in 
October of the same 3'ear, and William Win- 
dom was again chosen, serving until suc- 
ceeded by one of the present Senators, D. M. 
Sabin, March 4, 1883. 

Ileni'y M. Rice, who was mentioned as a 
colleague of James Shiekis, served as United 
States Senator from May 11, 1858, to JIarch 
4. 1803, when Alexander Ramsey succeeded 
him, and retained the position until l\[arch 4, 
1875. S. J. R. McMillan became United 
States Senator on the day last named, and 
occupied tiie position for two full terms — 
twelve years — being succeeded March 4, 
1887, by Cushman K. Davis, one of the 
present Senators. 

EEPRf:SENTATrrES IN CONGRESS. 

The territorial delegates have already been 



spoken of. When the State of Minnesota 
was organized, it was entitled to two represent- 
atives in the House of Representatives of 
the United States. This state of affairs con- 
tinued until 1871, wlien a reapportionment 
was made, and the State was allowed three 
members of the House. At that time the 
State was divided into three congressional 
districts — No. 1, embi'acing the southern. 
No. 2 the central, and No. 3 the northern 
portion of the State. In 1881 another ap- 
portionment was made, by which the State 
secured five Representatives. This is the 
present 'status of the representation. The 
State is divided into five congressional dis- 
tricts, as follows : The first district includes 
Houston, Fillmore, Mower, Freeborn, Steele, 
Dodge, Olmsted, Winona and Wabasha 
counties ; the second district includes Fari- 
bault, Blue Earth, Waseca, Watonwan, Mar- 
tin, Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, 
Rock, Pipestone, Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, 
Brown, Nicollet, Yellow Medicine, Lac qui 
Parle. Sibley and Le Sueur counties ; the 
third district embraces Goodhue, Rice, Swift, 
Dakota, Scott, Carver, McLeod, Meeker, 
Kandiyohi, Renville and Chi])pewa counties; 
the fourth district includes Washington, 
Ramsey, Hennei)in, Wright, Pine, Kanabec, 
Anoka, Chisago, Isanti and Sherhui-ne coun- 
ties, and the fifth district includes Mille Lacs, 
Benton, Morrison, Stearns, Pope, Douglas, 
Stevens, Big Stone, Traverse, Grant, Todd, 



w 



'44 



HISTORY OF MINNESOTA. 



Crow Win^, Aitkin, Carlton, "Wadena. Otter 
Tail, Wilkin, Cass, Becker, Clay, Polk, Bel- 
trami, Mai'shall, Hubbard, Kittson, Itasca, 
St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties. 

Tlie following is a list of the various gen- 
tlemen who have represented Minnesota in 
the lower house of Congress, with the years 
during which they served. With one or two 
exceptions, the tenn of office began and 
closed March 4th. 

W. W. Bhelps, 1858-9 ; J. M. Cavenaugh, 
1858; William Windom, 1860-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8; 
Cyrus Aldrich, 1860-1-2; Ignatius Donnelly, 
1864-5-6-7-8; M. S. Wilkinson, 1869-70; E. 
M. Wilson, 1869-70 ; John T. Averill, 1871-2- 
3-4 ; M. II. Bunnell, from 1871 to 1883 ; II. 
B. Straight, 1874-5-6-7-8; William S. King, 
1876 ; J. IT. Stewart, 1878 ; Henry Poehler, 
1879-80; H. B. Straight, 1881-2-3-4-5-6; W. 
.p. Washburn, 1879-80-1-2-3-4 ; Milo White, 
1883-4-5-6; J. B. Wakefield, 1883-4-5-6; 
Knute Xelson, 1883-4-5-6-7-8; J. B. Giltillan. 
1885-6; Thomas Wilson, 1887-8; John Lind, 
1887-8 ; John L. McDonald, 1887-8 ; Edmund 
Rice, 1S87-8. 

CREATION OF COUNTIES. 

In this connection we present a list of tlie 
counties of Minnesota, together with the 
date on which they were created by the terri- 
torial or State Legislatures, viz.: 
Aitkin, May 23, 1857, Marsliall, February 25, 1879, 



Auoka, May 23, 1857, 
Becker, March 18, 1858 
Beltrami, F'bru'ry 28, 1866 
Beuton, October 27, 1849, 
Big Stoue. F'br'ry 20, 1863, 
Blue Earth. March 5, 1853, 
Brown, February 20. 18.55, 
Carltou, May 23. 18.57, 
Carver, February 20, 1855, 
Cass, September 1, 1851, 
Chippewa, F'br'ry 20, 1802, 
Chisago, September 1, 1851, 
Clay, JIarch 2, 1862. 
Cook, March 9. 1874, 
Cottonwood, May 23, 1857, 
Crow Wing. May 23, 18,57, 
Dakota, October 27, 1849, 
Dodge, February 20, 1855, 
Douglas. JIarch 8. 1858, 
Faribault, F'l)r'ry 20. 18.55, 
Fillmore, March 5, 18.53, 
Freeborn, F'br'ry, 20, 1855, 
Goodhue, March 5, 1853, 
Grant, March 6, 1868, 
Hennepin, March 6, 1852, 
Houston, Feb'ry 23, 18.54, 
IIubl)ard. Feb'y 26. 1883. 
Isanti, February 13, 18.57, 
Itasca. October 29, 1849, 
Jackson, May 23, 1857. 
Kanabec. March 13. 18.58, 
Kandiyohi, March 20, 1S.58, 
Kittson, February 25, 1879, 
Lac qui Parle, Nov. 3, 1871, 
Lake, March 1, 1856, 
Le Sueur, March 5, 1853, 
Lincoln, March 6.1873. 
Lyon, November 2. 1869, 
McLeod, March 1, 1856, 



Martin, May 23, 1857, 
Jleeker, February 23, 1856, 
, Mille Lacs, May 23, 1857, 
Morrison, Febr'ry 25, 18.58, 
Mower, February 20, 1855, 
Murray, May 23. 18.57, 
Nicollet, March 5, 18.53, 
Nobles, May 23. 1857. 
Norman, Nov'mb'r29, 1881, 
Olmsted, February 20, 18.55, 
Otter Tail. March 18, 18.58, 
Pine, March 31, 1856, 
Pipestone, May 23, 1857, 
Polk, July 20, 1858, 
Pope, February 20, 1862, 
Ramsey, October 27, 1849,. 
Redwood, February 6, 1862, 
Renville, February 20, 1855, 
Rice, March 5, 18.53, 
Rock, March 23, 18.57, 
St. Louis, March 1, 1856, 
Scott, March 5, 18.58, 
Sherburne, Feb'y 25, 1856 
Sibley, March 5, 1853, 
Stearns, February 20, 1855, 
Steele, February 20, 18.55, 
Stevens, February 20, 1800, 
Swift, March 4, 1870, 
Todd, February 20, 1862. 
Travers, February 20, 1863, 
Wabasha, October 27, 1849, 
Wadena, July 11. 18.58, 
Waseca, February 27, 1857, 
Washington, Oct. 27, 1849, 
Watonwan, Nov. 6, 1860, 
Wilkin, March C, 1868, 
Winona, February 23, 1849, 
Wright, February 20, 18.55, 
Yellow Medicine, Novem- 
bers, 1871. 



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c^PQPE COUNTY 



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^HISTORICAL 




POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



149 



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Er^ErAzy,^s^&i^l^^^^^^^^^^^^^s:>k 



Descriptive and Historical 








'OPE COUNTY lies in 
the west central por- 
tion of ]\[innesota, on 
the southern edge of 
the famous '-Park 
C\gy''-^-'% "^ Region " of the North- 

V"^^;^ west. It is hounded on the 
nortii by Douglas county ; on 
the east by Stearns count\' ; on 
the south by Ivandiyolii and 
Swift counties, and on tlie west 
by Stevens. It embraces an 
area of about 4(!0,.SOO acres, or 
twcnt}'^ congi'essional town- 
ships. This territor3' is techni- 
cally described as townships 123, 124, 125, 
and 126, in ranges 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40. The 
surface of the county is well watered by 
numerous sti'eams and man}' glistening lakes 
are located witiiin its boundaries. The 
largest of the lakes is Lake Minnewaska, 
one of the most beautiful bodies of water in 
the State. It has become famous for the fine 
fishing and hunting it afi'oi'ds, and hundreds 
of sportsmen and pleasure-seekers yearly 
visit it, to fisli in its depths or seek game 
upon and about its shores. Besides Minne- 




waska, however, there are many others 
which are worthy of much more than pass- 
ing notice. Among these are Lakes Johanna, 
Reno, Ben, Gilberson, Stenne, Nelson, West- 
port, Grove, Lincoln, Amelia, Villard, Leven, 
Ellon, Ann, Hanson, Emily, Pelican, Swen- 
oda, Scandinavia, Woodpeckei-, and many 
others, whicli are smaller, yet no less beauti- 
I'ui. The water of these lakes is clear as 
crystal and abounds Avitli fish of the various 
species common to tliis latitude. As a rule, 
the lake shores are sandj'. Tiie east branch 
of the Cliippewa River finds its source in tiie 
northeastern portion of the county, in one of 
the numerous lakes, and flows southerly 
tiiough tlic townsliips of Glenwood, Cliip- 
pewa Falls and Rolling Forks, on its way to 
the Minnesota River, which it makes junction 
with in Swift county, joining in the mean- 
time the main body of the Cliippewa River. 
The west fork of the Chippewa River finds 
its source in the southern part of Otter Tail 
county, and on its southward course flows 
though the western jiortion of I'ope county, 
traversing the townships of Nora, New 
Prairie, Waldcn and Ilofl". 
The north fork of the Crow River rises in 



ISO 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



the various lakes of Grove Lake township, 
and flows in an easterl}' direction until its 
waters mingle with those of the mighty 
Mississippi. These streams furnish an out- 
let for the lakes, and afford ample drainage 
for the land. It will thus be seen that Pope 
county is supplied with an abundance of 
pure, wholesome water, making it at once a 
most desirable and profitable stock-raising 
locality. For some years past the intelli- 
gent class of agriculturists have been devot- 
ing much attention to this important indus- 
try, and to-day this county is scarcely 
second to any county in the western part of 
the State in tlie assessed valuation of its 
cattle. Blooded and high grade stock is by 
no means rare in any part of tlie county, and 
yearly more and more attention is devoted 
to tills department. No county in the State 
is better adapted by natui'e for raising stock, 
for the soil is very prolific in the ])roduction 
of both tame and indigenous grasses, and 
an abundance of rich, nutritious wild hay 
can be had merely for the labor of cutting 
and caring for it. 

Few counties in the great State of Minne- 
sota can compare witli Pope count}' in the 
beauty of natural scenery — its rolhng 
prairies, interspersed and diversified with 
natural and domestic groves, studded with 
lakes and adorned by that magnificent sheet 
of water. Lake Minnewaska, lying in its 
wondrous beauty among the hills and 
wooded blutTs. One versatile writer, in 
speaking of this famous lake, saj's : " One 
can hardly look upon tliis magnificent sheet 
of water and its varied surroundings and not 
feel that it is a joy to live — feel that in just 
such marvelous scenes as here meet the eye 
at every turn the Great Giver has made am- 
ple compensation for tlie ills of life. * * 
Minnesota boasts of its beautiful lakes and 'sky 
tinted waters' in every part of its wide do- 
main ; but there are few, very few, which can 
compare with magnificent Lake Minnewaska. 



The soil of Pope county, as a rule, consists 
of a rich, dark loam, underlaid with a sub- 
soil of clay or gravel. In some places the soil 
is inclined to be more sandy than in others, 
but there ai'e but few pieces of land in the 
county which from this cause are unfit for 
cultivation. This has always been, since its 
first settlement, a great wheat and grain 
raising county, and still maintains its excel- 
lent reputation in this regard. Tlie soil is 
well adapted to the raising of all cereals 
common to this latitude. 

For many years prior to the first actual 
settlement, there is no question but that the 
territory which now comprises Pope county 
was frequenth' trod I13' the foot of white 
men. The Red River Valley had been set- 
tled earl}' in the history of the Northwest, 
and the principal " trail " from the Red 
River or Selkirk settlement passed through 
Pope county. The aliundance of game which 
infested this region drew hunters and trap- 
pers regularly to its beautiful lakes and 
woodlands. Tlie Indians for ages had made 
this portion of the State a hunting and camp- 
ing ground, and, could they speak, each tree, 
could, no doubt, tell some wild tale of In- 
dian adventure. Wild game of almost every 
description — buffalo, bear, elk, deer, etc. — 
abounded in those days, ami many of these 
animals have only passed from these grounds 
recently. Many of the old settlers report 
that they frequently saw deer, elk and bear 
in the days of their first settlement here, and 
not a few have been seen and killed in recent 
years. In 1856 there was a great tide of 
emio-ration toward the '• setting sun " from 
the Eastern States, and a great proportion of 
the present area of Minnesota grew rap- 
idly in population. A great many passed 
through what is now Pope county, and points 
far to the west and northwest received set- 
tlers. This tide of immigration to Minne- 
sota continued also through a portion of the 
following year, but then came on the panic 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



151 



of 1857 and the intlux of settlers almost 
completely ceased. Times were very iiard all 
through the country, and especially was this 
condition of affairs felt in the Northwest. 

Following close upon the financial i)anic, 
came the outbreak of the Civil War, in the 
spring of 1861, and in August, 1802, was 
inaugurated the terrible Sioux Indian out- 
break, which depopulated the western part 
of the State and crimsoned the fair soil 
with the blood of so many innocent men, 
women and children. Fiendish atrocity, 
blood-curdling cruelt}', and red-handed mur- 
der ran riot, and the growth of Minnesota 
received a setback from which it took 
numy years to fully recover. 

A number of settlers had located in what 
is now Pope county ]irior to the outbreak 
of the Civil AVar, and in several portions of 
the county the nucleus of a substantial 
settlement had been formed. It is iinpos- 
siblc at this late day to state who were 
the first actual settlers, and to make the 
assertion upon the conflicting and vci-y un- 
satisfactory evidence which has come to 
the knowledge of the writer would be 
to record as histor\' that which would 
be a matter of endless dispute among the 
okler settlers. It is suHicient, under the 
circumstances, to state that a number of 
settlers luul located here ])rior to the out- 
break. The settlers built their log cabins, 
prepared the soil, and gathered their crops, 
or hunted antl trapped, living in peace and 
contentment, while the settlement thrived 
and grew in a small way, until the Indians in- 
augurated theircarnival of l)loodshod, in 18<>2. 
At that time the settlers all fled for places 
of safety, and Pope county was again left 
without a single white inhabitant, as it had 
existed for ages before. This state of alfairs 
continued for a number of 5'ears, until about 
the close of the Civil War, after peace had 
again been restored upon the frontier and 
the Indians brought under subjection. 



In the mean time, the Legislature of Minne- 
sota, on the 2<>th of February, 1802, had set 
off the territoi-y, which now forms Pope 
county, defined its boundaries and given it 
the name of Pope, locating the seat of jus- 
tice at Stockholm, in Gilchrist township. 
Thus was Pope county created, although for 
several years it remained attached to Stearns 
county for civil and judicial ])urposos, pro- 
vision being made that organization could be 
effected when there was sufficient popula- 
tion upon a])plication to the Govei'nor. In 
180.3 the Indians were concjuered and, as a 
body, were brought under subjection, but 
small bands of them occasionally traversed 
the country, and their depi'edations. really 
lasted for some time after their surrender, 
so that life and property were not safe this 
far out upon tiie frontier. During this year 
this region was frecjuently patroled by the 
soldiers, and the writer calls to mind several 
soldiers who now live upon claims which 
took their fancy while they were in the serv- 
ice, chasing Indians, in 1863. Toward the 
close of the Civil War, in 180-1-, and in 1865, 
settlers again commenced taking up their 
homes in Pope county, and various portions 
of the county received their pioneer inhabi- 
tants. 

In J 866, 1867 and 1868 the volume of in- 
comers grew, and all portions of the county 
developed rapidly. Many old soldiers were 
among the settlers of those days, and today 
a very large pei'centage of the pioneers who 
are still residents wei-e brave "boys in blue" 
and veterans in the late war. After the 
year last mentioned the growth progressed 
more slowly, but still with a healthy growth, 
and when the year 1870 dawned the county 
had a population of 2.691. A portion of this 
period times were very "close" with the 
early settlers, as nearly all of them came 
here with bnt little means, and their whole 
subsistence had to be drawn from the soil- 
The decade from 1870 to 1880 marked a ma- 



152 



POPE COUNTY, MJNA'ESOTA. 



terial gTowth in the population as well as the 
development of the county, and upon its close 
there were 5,874: ])eople within the limits of 
the county. During the latter part of this 
decade this country was visited by the grass- 
hoppers, and for several years nearly all the 
crops were destroyed. This was' a severe 
setback to the growth of the county, and 
those who remained during those trying 
times experienced the most severe hardships 
and trials. Hundreds abandoned their farms 
and sought work in other regions to pro- 
vide for their families ; many more gave 
up farming and lived by trapping. Furs 
bnniglit a good price, and, as one old settler 
puts it." Rat skins were legal tender in those 
days." Since that memorable time nothing 
has occuiTed to seriously impede the growth 
and development of the count}'. The last 
census gave the county a total population of 
8,707, while at tiiis writing (1888) it is safe 
to say it has reached at least 11,000. 

The farming community throughout the 
county iiave, as a whole, been very success- 
ful, and the old settlei's who has had the 
determination and courage to remain in the 
county through the pioneer times and grass- 
hopper da\'s, with all their liardships, are, as 
a rule, in comfortable circumstances, while 
many of them are wealth}'. It is safe to say 
that ninety per cent, of the old settlers who 
have remained upon their farms, and in- 
dustriouslv continncd tillino'the soil through 
the past years, are to-day in easy circum- 
stances financialU", have comfortable homes, 
and broad, fertile acres, which yearly bring 
them sutficient revenue for all their oi'dinary 
needs. Tliis is a splendid showing for this 
region, if it is candidly considered. It must 
ijc remembered that this county has passed 
tiirougli some of tiie most severe and dis- 
tressing reverses that it is possible to visit 
upon any country; it must also be remem- 
bered that these settlers, with but very few 
exceptions, came here without means, and in- 



vested no capital to speak of. No other 
class of men, either in the business or pro- 
fessional walks of life can show the same 
record ; in fact, just the reverse is true, 
for while ten ])er cent, of professional and 
business men succeed and become rich, 
ninety per cent, either fail wholly or merely 
eke out a subsistence. The writer therefore 
has no hesitation in stating that the farming 
coranmnity of Pope count}' has been unusually 
successful, notwithstanding the many disad- 
vantages and reverses through which they 
have passed. 

After Pope county was set off from 
Stearns and its boundaries defined, in 1802, 
nothing was done toward effecting an organ- 
ization for several yeai*s, as the county had 
been depopulated by the Indian outbreak. 
In 1865 and 180<i, when settlers were again 
taking up homes here, tlie matter of organi- 
zation began to be agitated, and on the loth 
of August, lS(i(3, a convention was held at 
Stockholm, a settlement in Gilchrist town- 
ship, for the purpose of taking definite action. 
At this meeting a petition for organization 
was prepared and signed and forwarded to 
Governor W, E. Marshall. In response to 
this petition the Governor, on the ISth of 
August, 1866, appointed Thomas Chance, J. 
G. Canfield and OleEeine, as the first commis- 
sioners of the county, and directed them to 
take the necessary steps to effect a county 
organization. The county seat had been lo- 
cated at Stockholm, by the original act, and 
the first meeting of the newly-appointed 
board was held at that place on the Ith of 
Septembei', 1866. Thomas Cljance was 
elected chairman, and then the record states 
that the " only house on the county seat plat 
being unfit for business, they adjourned to 
the house of Ole Peterson."' 

On the same date the board pi-oceeded to 
organize the county by appointing the fol- 
lowing named to fill the various oliices until 
the ensuing election — Kirk J. Kinney, 



rOPR COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



153 



aiuUtor; Isaac Thorson, treasurer ; J. G. Can- 
field, register of deeds; Ole Peterson, slieriff ; 
J. C. Bodwell, attorne\- ; and Tlionias 
Chance, surveyor. Tims was the county 
ushered into existence as an official organiza- 
tion. The official life of the county has been 
uneventful. With but very few exceptions, 
tlie various offices have since been iilled by 
capable and responsible men, and nothing 
has occurred to interrupt the usual quiet 
routine of its official existence. The same 
year that the county was organized, at the 
fall election in 1866, the county seat was 
removed from Stockholm to Glen wood, where 
it iias since remained. A substantial and 
commodious brick courthouse was erected 
in 1879, on a commanding site north of the 
business centre of the village, in which the 
county offices are located. The grounds, 
wliicii include a full l)lock. have been well 
cared foi'. and a fountain, jilaying in front of 
the courthouse, adds much to the beauty of 
the site. 

The growth and settlement of Pope county 
were gi'catly retarded for many^'cars by the 
lack of railway and shipping facilities, which 
obliiiC'd the settlers to go long distances, into 
adjoining counties, to market their products. 
In 1881, however, the first railroad was com- 
pleted through the county, by the Northern 
Pacific Railway Company, the county giving 
the company a honun of $65,000. This line 
extends from Morris to Little Falls, and 
makes direct connection with Duluth.on the 
shores of Lake Superior. This railroad 
passes through the northern ])ai't of Pope 
CDunty, and live stations are located upon it 
within the limits of this county — C'yrus, 
Starl>iick, Glenwood, N'illard and West- 
port. In 1886 the Minneapolis tt Pacific 
Railway, now a part of the famous " Soo 
Lino," was completed through Po])e c<nmty 
giving direct connection witii ^linneapolis, 
St. Paul ami all points east. l'"oiir stations 
arc located on this line within the limits 



of Pope county — Farwell, Lowry, Glen- 
wood and Thorson. These two lines of 
railroad, being both connected with great 
railway organizations, furnish ample market- 
ing and shi[)ping facilities. 

The following is a list of the various gen- 
tlemen who have filled the 

PRINCIPAL OFFICES 



was organized. There is 



since the county 
no record from which this list could be 
obtained, but the names have been gathered 
from various sources, and, having been pro- 
nounced comjilete by a number of old set- 
tlei's, the list is Ijelieved to be materially cor- 
rect, although slight errors may have crept in: 

AnDiTOK. — Kirk J. Kinney, S. B. McGuire, 
Kirk J. Kinney, J. G. Whittemore, M. A. 
Wollan and Ole J. Sandvig. 

Register of Deeds. — J. G. Canfield, Dan- 
iel A. Bartke, M. A. Wollan, John W. Sim- 
mons, Andrew Torguson, Albert Peterson, 
Andrew Torguson and E. Koefod. 

Cr.KKK OF CouKT. — Kii'k J. Kinney, George 
Robinson, Reuben George, T. Thorson and 
Frank M. Eddy. 

Sheriff. — Ole Peterson, C. T. Kee, S. 
Simons, Andrew Torguson, Ole N. Bars- 
ness and Joseph Peacock. 

County Treasurer. — Isaac Thorson, Ole 
Peterson, Erick Henderson, G. Larson, Ole 
RiffS: Jr., and Ole Gilbertson. 

Judge of Probate. — Thomas Chance, E. 
Lathrop, A. W. Lathropand Norman Shook. 

Superintendent of Schools. — Alfred W. 
Lathrop, E. Lathrop, II. G. Rising, Rev. 
Hoover, Joseph R. (ieddes, M. D. Coole\', 
Dr. J. Crozier and Ivor J. Lee. 

County Attorney. — J. C. Bodwell ( of 
Sauk Center), A. W. Lathrop, E. Lathrop, 
H. II. Velie, E. M. Webster, T. T. Ofsthun 
and C. P. Reeves. 

SuKVEVoK.— Thomas Chance, J. I), iforgan, 
L. G. Allen, II. 11. Velie, Ole Rigg Jr., H. 
A. Grafe and Kirk J. Kinnev. 



154 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



CoRONEK. — Among the most ])i-oininent 
citizens who have held this oiBce are O. J. 
Johnson, Dr. J. F. Skinner and Dr. N. Ilalt- 
erman. 

CouKT Commissioner.- — The present (188S) 
court commissioner is W. J. Carson. Hans 
Jobnshoy hekl this office for some time. 

The following is a list of the present 
(xViignst 1, ISSS.) oiBcers of the county, and 
without exception they are capable, courteous 
gentlemen — Ole J. Sandvig, auditor; Ole 
Gilbertson, treasurer; E. Koefod, register of 
deeds; Frank M. Eddy, clerk of court; Jo- 
seph Peacock, sheriff ; Xornian Shook, judge 
of probate ; C. P. Reeves, attorney ; Iver J. 
Lee, superintendent of schools ; W. J. 
Carson, court commissioner, and Dr. N. 
llalterman, coroner. 

In this connection we ])resent a list of the 
various gentlemen who have composed the 
board of county commissioners for each year 
since the county was organized. The list is 
believed to be absolutely correct, although 
in some instances the records were defective : 

lS6fi. — Thomas Chance, chairman; J. G. 
Cantield and Ole Keine. 

1867. — Thomas Chance, chairman; Isaiah 
Judd and Ole Reine. 

1808. — Isaiah Judd, chairman; Ole Reine 
and G. AV. Thacker. 

1869. — George W. Thacker, chairman; 
Dyer I>. Pettijohn and Ole Gilbertson. 

1869 (September). — D. B. Pettijohn, chair- 
man; Lorenzo Davis and Ole Gilbertson. 

1870. — D. B. Pettijohn, chairman; Ole 
Gilbertson and ISTels B. Wollan. 

1871. — Same as in ])revious year. 

1872. — Ole Gilbertson, chairman; N. B. 
Wollan and Q. C. Warren. 

1873.— Nels B. Wollan, chairman; Q. C. 
Warren and Hans Suckstorff. 

1874:. — (J. C. Warren, clmirmcui; Hans 
Suckstorff and G. Larson. 

1875. — Hans Suckstorff, chair/nan; G. Lar- 
son and P. Hoffman. 



1876. — G. Larson, chairman; P. Hoffman 
and Ole Gilbertson. 

1877. — Ole Gilbertson, chairman; Lars O. 
Romsas, Peter Hoffman, Peter E. Barsness 
and Daniel Pennie. 

1878. — Ole Gilberston, chairman; L. O. 
Romsas, Hans Ingebretson, Peter E. Bars- 
ness and Daniel Pennie. 

1879. — Same as in previous year. 

1880. — Daniel Pennie, chairnian; L. O. 
Romsas, George Brown, Jared Emmerson 
and Peter E. Barsness. 

1881. — L. O. Romsas, chairman; George 
Brown, Jared Emmerson, Peter Engebretson 
and G. Tharaldson. 

1882. — Peter Engebretson, chairman; 
George Brown, Jared Emmerson, II. M. F. 
Irgens and G. Tharaldson. 

1883.— H. M. F. Irgens, chairman; Peter 
Engebretson, G. Tharaldson, John Jeffers 
and G. O. Huset. 

188-t. — H. ]\I. F. Irgens, chairman; John 
Jeffers. G. O. Huset, A. L. Brevig anil 
George Townsend. 

1885. — -John Jeffers, chairman; A. L. Bre- 
vig, G. O. Huset, George Townsend and Iver 
I. Hippe. 

1886. — George Townsend, chairman; Iver 
I. Hip])e, G. O. Huset, A. L. Brevig and John 
Jeffers. 

1887. — Iver I. Hippe, chairman; John 
Jeffers, A. L. Brevig, John Hanson and John 
Peacock. 

1888. — Iver I. Hippe. of New Prairie 
township, chairman; John Jeffers, of Glen- 
wood township; John Peacock, of Reno; 
John Hanson, of Chippewa Falls: and A. L. 
Brevig, of Blue Mounds. 

In this connection we present a brief re- 
view of the 

VARIOUS VILLAGES 

located within the limits of Pope county. 

Glenwood. — This is the county seat of 
Pope county. It is located at the north- 
eastern end of Lake Miunewaska, in a 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



broad and beautiful glen, around which 
tlie lofty bluffs describe a crescent. For 
beauty of location it is unsurpassed. The 
original town was platted by Kirk J. 
Kinney and Alfred W. Lathrop on tiio 
2Gth of September, 1866. Additions have 
since been made by Kinney & Day, Fur- 
ber M. Libliy, Ole A. Aasve and A. C. 
Lathrop, K. J. Kinney, A. W. T.athrop and 

C. AV. Jennison, George K. Wheeler t^: Co., 
and Tory Thorson. Excellent marketing- 
facilities are afforded by the Noi'thei'n Pacific 
and ilinneapolis & Pacific Ilailways, which 
form a junction at this point, and as the vii- 
lajre is suiTOunded bv an excellent farming 
country, it has a steady and ever increasing- 
trade. All lines of business are well i-e])re- 
sented here, and tiie town has, at tiiis wi-it- 
ing, a population of altout SOO ]i('oplc. 
Glenwood is supplied witii an admiraijle 
water service, the cooling l^everage being 
conveyed in pipes to the various rosidenc(^s 
and business houses througliout tiie town. 
The source or iiead of the water works is a 
spring away up on tlie hills, 200 feet above 
^Minnesota avenue, the main thoroughfare. 
The water from a hydrant at the corner of 
tiiis avenue and Franklin street is thrown 
into the air 12G feet, and the pressure at 
seven hydrants in various locations is equal 
to all demands for protection against fire. 

Stariuck. — This is tiie second village in 
size and importance within the limits of Pope 
county. It is located on the Northern Pa- 
cific Railway, in White liear Laketownshiji, 
at the foot of Lake Minnewaska. The loca- 
tion upon which it rests is among the best 
village sites to be found in this part of the 
State. The village was laid out b}' James 

D. Poler and Andrew Hogenson, in the 
spring of 1SS2, the site bemg surveyed b}' 
Jolin Abercrombie, and the plat filed for 
reccjrd ]\Iay 24, 1SS2. The village has grown 
steadily from its first inception, and every 
line of trade is now well represented here. 



The surrounding country is thickly settled 
by an intelligent and well-to-do class of 
farmers, and Starbuck, therefore, does an ex- 
tonsive business. 

Vir.i.ARD. — Villard is a tiiriving and grow- 
in"- village located on the Northern Pacific 
Railroad, in the eastern part of Leven town- 
ship, on the banks of Lake Villard. The 
original town was laid out by John and Cal- 
ista Williams, in August, 1882, the survey 
being made by Charles (1 Hinds. Additions 
were shortly afterward laid out by Dens- 
more G. W. Stickney, Triphena A. Bennett, 
John R. Howes and Jennie Hill and Charles 
A. Barrows. The village has a good loca- 
tion, and an enterprising set of business men. 
The place is recognized as an excellent grain 
market, and in the past has done a very 
heavy business in this line. 

ScANDiAviLi.E OK CvKus. — Tliis village is 
located in New Praii'ie township, on the 
Northern Pacific Railway, in the western 
eilge of the county. The village was origin- 
ally laid out as Scandiaville, by (). H. Dahl 
and Charles Olson, in the sj)ring of 1882. 
The postoffice at tliis point bears the name 
of Cyrus. 

LowKY. — This village is located on the line 
of the Minneapolis & Pacific Railwa}', on 
section 2-t, Ben Waile townshi]i. It is the 
end of a railway division, and is also sui*- 
rounded by a wealthy farming- couutr\', so 
that it commands a good trade. The village 
was laid out in March, 1887, by W. D. 
Washburn, Thomas Hume and Hugh Bryce. 

TiioKsoN. — Thorson village was laid out 
b\^ W. D.Washburn and Sylvester and Orrin 
Kipp in the spring of 1887. The survey 
was made b\' P. M. Dahl, and the plat was 
filed for record May 20, 1887. Tlie village 
is located on section 6, in Bangor township, 
on the line of the Minneapolis A: Pacific Rail- 
way. 

Chippewa Falls. — A village under this 
name was laid out in June, 1871, bv J. A. 



IS6 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Wheeler, which is located on section 33, 
Chippewa Falls township. The postoffice 
located here is known as Terrace. The vil- 
lage has a number of stores, hotel, physician, 
etc., and does a thriving trade. The Chip- 
pewa Iviver furnishes a good water power at 
this point with which a Houring mill is oper- 
ated. 

Farwell. — ■ Farwell village is located on 
the Minneapolis & Pacific ilailway, on sec- 



tion 6, Ben Wade township. It was platted 
in April, 1887, by W. D. Washburn, William 
Max and Charles A. Dahlen. 

Westj-ort. — The village of Westport is 
located in the northeastern part of the county 
on the line of the Northern Pacific Railway, 
being situated on the northeast quarter of 
section 23, Westport township. The village 
was platted by Crawford Livingston, in 
October, 1882. ^ . ' 




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i^BlOGRAPHICAL 



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' 



POPE COUA'^TV, MINNESOTA. 



159 





lilOGRHFTJUrHIi 








■p^TON. J. G. WHI' 
'llvVll^ coaseil, of tTlen\V( 
Jli J1_ tlie most proniin 



WHITTEMORE, dc- 
ood, was one of 
prominent, public-spir- 
ited, lil)oral and enterprising citizens wiio 
liavc over lived in I'ojie count}'. A man of 
tiie utmost lionoi- and integrity, of wide gen- 
eral information, education and intelligence, 
and prominent in every public work and en- 
terprise, iiis name is intimately ami indis- 
solubly connected witii the histoiy of the 
growtli and progress of this locality. 

Mr. AVliittemore was born in Washington 
county, Maine, in 1S38, and was a son of 
James G. and Nancy M. (Crocker) Whitte- 
more. A sketch of his parents appears in 
connection with the biography of Captain 
W. K. "Whittemore elsewhere in tliis work. 
Tiie early life of J. (1. Wliittemore, our sub- 
ject, was spent in the schools of his native 
State. Later he came West, and for three 
years studied meilicine witli Dr. Potts, at Cas- 
tle Hock. Dakota county, Minnesota. In 
1863, as tlie Civil War was then in progress he 
enlisted in a Minnesota regiment, and was 
soon given a position as first Lieutenant in a 
colored regiment — One hundred and eight- 
eentli Fnitcd States Colored Infantry — and 
he held that position until honorably dis- 
charged, in 18<>.5. lie then came to Pope 



county, Minnesota, and located at Grove 
Lake, where he took u|) a homestead and 
commenced the practice of medicine. A 
few years later he removed to Glenwood, 
continuing his ])ractice. He was elected 
county autlitoi", and for six years tilled that 
office with the utmost ability and efficiency. 
He was then eiiii'ao'cd in the mercantile and 
banking business, continuing it until the time 
of his death. In 1873 he was elected to rep- 
resent this district in the Lower House of the 
State Legislature, after which he was elected 
State Senator, and served two years with 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
stituents. He was one of the leading and 
most influential spirits in securing the build- 
ing of the Little Falls Railroad through Pojie 
county, and, in fact, every enterprise calcu- 
lated to benelit either his town or county 
received his hearty aid and encouragement. 
His death occuiTcd in 1882. He had accum- 
ulated an e.Ktensive pi'o))erty. which was en- 
tirely the result of his own efforts. He was 
a I'epublican politically and was a member 
of the Masonic fratci'uity. 

Mr. Wliittemore was nuirried in ISti-l 
to .Miss .Mary .Mc.Nutt, wIkj survives him. 
At his death he left seven children to 
mourn his loss — Lucy E., John G., Kitt" 



i6o 



POPE COCNTY. M/.V.V£SOr.-l 



ridge M., Clara C, Jane T., James G. and 

Abbie. 

Mrs. Whittemore is a native of Nova Sco- 
tia, and a daughter of John and Celiu (Morse) 
McNutt. A full sketcli of her parents is 
presented in connection witli the history of 
T. Cf. McXutt, elsewhere in this Album. 

-— ^■*— f^^— *■ : 

JTUDGE NORMAN SHOOK came to Pope 
/J county in 1865, during the month of Oc- 
tober, settling on section 31 of Westport 
township. He homesteaded 160 acres of land, 
which he improved. He now owns 220 acres, 
where he carries on general farming and 
stock-raising. Our subject was one of the 
lirst permanent settlers here, and helped to 
organize tlie township. He was a member 
of the lirst board of supervisors, and has 
been in tliat capacity nearly all the time 
since, and served as its chairman for a num- 
ber of 3'ears. 

Judge Shook was born in Dutchess county, 
New York, June 12, 1825, the son of Peter 
and Maria (Bonesteal) Shook, natives of the 
same State. There were ten children in the 
family— Frederick, Christina, Daniel, Cath- 
erine, David, Peter, Samuel, Charles. Hannah 
ami Norman. Charles died in childiiood. 

Mr. Shook spent his school days in Can- 
antlaigua City, New York, and his earlier 
childhood days in Dutchess county. New 
1 ork. He received an academic education 
and taught for awhile; also farmed in that 
locality. He came to Indiana, and remained 
there awhile, and then came on to Ilenne}iin 
county, Minnesota, where he remained until 
he came to Pope county. Judge Shook was 
mai'ried in 1850, to Miss Hannah Storm, a 
native of New York, having been born and 
educated in Genesee county <jf that State. 
Her [)arents were farmers, and she was the 
youngest of a family of si.\ children — John, 
Sarah, Lovice, Rebecca, Isaac and Hannah. 



Mr. Shook enlisted in 1864, in the First 
Minnesota Infantry, Second Corps, under 
Captain Perkins. He went in and served 
throughout as a private, receiving his dis- 
charge at Jeffersonville, Indiana. He was in 
the battles of Cold Harbor, I'etersburg, Deep 
Bottom, and others of less note in history. 
From the service he came to Pope county 
and located. 

Judge Shook is a man of much more than 
orilinary ability and a man of sterling integ- 
rity and worth. He has always taken a 
very active and prominent part in all public 
affairs, and no man's name is more closely 
and in dissolubly associated with the growth 
and development, as well as the otlicial his- 
tory', of Pope county, than that of Mr. Shook. 
A republican in political matters, well posted 
on all public questions, he is one of the 
most prominent citizens of the county, and 
one of its most highly respected and intlu- 
ential pioneers. He has held some local office 
nearly all the time he has lived here, and 
since IST-t has ably tilled the important 
office of judge of probate of Pope county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shook are the parents of the 
following family — Alice, Ambrose, Ida, Ettie 
and Otto, all of whom are married except 
the last named. 



^^TANS JOHNSHOY, a prosperous and 
J&'llL highly esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, is a resident of section S, Pine 
Mounds township. He was born in the 
southeastern part of Norway, in Gudbrands- 
dalen, on the 8th of June, 1847, and is a son 
of Johannes and Carrie (Iverson) Johnshoy, 
who a'-e natives of that kingdom. The 
father, who was a farmer, died in the old 
country in 1869. The mother is sixty-three 
years of age, and is living with her son 1 fans. 
They had a family of three children — Hans, 
Caroline and Lena, all of whom are living. 



POPE COU.VTY, MINNESOTA. 



i6i 



The family are all active members of the 
Lutheran Church. Lena is married to Ole 
A. Amlerson, a farmer of Blue Mounds 
township. Caroline is married to Ever E. 
BaT-sness, a farmer of Walden township. 

Our subject was educated in Norway, and 
remained in Norway until 1SC7. After 
leaching school three years, he crossed tlie 
ocean on a sailing vessel, being seven weeks 
and two days in making the voyage, and 
l,ni(i('(l in (iuei)ec. lie came to La Crosse 
county, Wisconsin, where Ik^ remained three 
veal's, the llrst year attending school and 
clerking in a general merchandise store in 
Springville, the other two teaching school ii\ 
that vicinitv. He then ijou<rht a yoke of 
oxen, wagon and cow, and with his mother 
and two sisters came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, being four weeks on the way. Shortly 
after arriving in Pope county he took a 
homestead on section 8, Blue Mounds town- 
ship, where he has since remained. 

Our suijject was married in the s[)ring of 
1873 to Miss Mary Joiinson, and they have 
had the following children — Joiian. Clara 
Mina, Caroline Elizabeth, Jose])h Tngvald, 
(^iara Josephine, Herman Magnus, Martinus 
Casper and Selma Helena. Joiian, Clara M., 
Caroline and Joseph are deceased. Mrs. 
Johnsho}' is a n;itive of Norwiiy. and in the 
year of ISCS slie came with her pai'ents to the 
United States, settling in Barsness township, 
Pope county, Minnesota. She was educated 
in X(jrway, and, witii her parents, belonged 
to the Lutiieran Church. She was in the 
first class to be conlirmed in Pope countv 
by Bev. P. S. Ptcque. 

Mr. Johnshoy takes an active interest in 
ail political and educational mattei"s, and 
has been honored with the followinir offices: 
justice of the peace, township clerk, town- 
ship supervisor, school treasurer and one 
term as court commissioner. lie, with his 
family, is an exem]>lary meml)er of the Lu- 
theran Church, of whicli organization he has 



been deacon and secretary ever since his 
residence here, lie has also always taken a 
prominent part in all good work, and when, 
at dili'erent intervals, Sunday school has been 
held, he has acted as superintendent. 

Mr. Johnshoy's building improv(!ments ai'o 
among the linest in the township, and reflect 
much credit ujion his energy and enterprise, 
besides being an honor to the locality in 
wiiich they are situated. IMr. Johnshoy is a 
man of the strictest integrity, and iiis word 
is recognized as b(>ing as good as his i)oii<l. 
He is a republican in political matters, and 
at this writing he is the nominee of that 
party for the office of judge of probate of 
Pope count\\ • 



.^^ 



^^EORGE BROWN, merchant of Cliip- 
\^^ pewa Falls, is one of the most promi- 
nent and successful business men in Pope 
county. He is a native of England, i)orii in 
Northumberlandshire, in 1817, and is a son 
of llobert and ]\Iarv (Martini Brown. His 
parents were also natives of England. His 
father, after coming to America, was for 
some time a sub-contractor on the Erie Canal. 
The parents lived at Utica, New York, for a 
time, and in 1817 settled at Jordan, NewYork. 
In 1819 the wife died, and during the same 
year the father removed to Canada. He be- 
came the owner of some 200 acres of land near 
Streetsville, in Peel county, Canada, and there 
remained until the time of his death. Bobert 
Brown and wife were the parents of four 
sons, as follows — Samuel, Eobert, Thomas 
and George. Robert died in Australia, 
November 2, 1S87. 

George Brown, the subject of our present 
sketch, after his mother's death, was brought 
up in the family of Moses Howe, of Onon- 
daga county, New York. He was reared < m a 
farm, and received the education afforded i)y 
the excellent common school svstem of the 



I62 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



"Empire State." When he arrived at the 
age of twenty-three he was married to Miss 
Harriet Ingoldsby, a native of St. Lawrence 
county, New York, and a daugliter of Eben 
and Zeruriah Ingoldsby. Our subject next 
settled in Hillsdale county, Michigan, where 
he had previously purchased a farm, and 
where he continued to reside, taking an active 
and prominent part in all public matters for 
over fifteen years. For a number of years he 
was engaged there in the mercantile trade and 
also in handling cattle, and also for sometime 
followed the profession of a school teacher. 
He removed to Manistee, Michigan, and one 
year later settled in Calhoun county, Michi- 
gan, and there engaged in general merchan- 
dising. After one year's residence there, he 
shipped his goods to Missouri. There he ran 
down his stock and remained until 1872, when 
he came with the balance of his goods to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and establislied a general 
merchandise store at Chippewa Falls, which 
he still conducts. He is a man of the strict- 
est integrity and is widely and favorably 
known throughout the entire count}'. 

Our subject held the office of postmaster 
in Missouri before settling here, and since his 
residence in Pope county he has been prom- 
inently identified with its official history. 
For three terms he held tlie office of justice 
of the peace, and in 1880 was elected a mem- 
ber of the board of county commissioners, 
and served three years. In political matters 
Mr. Brown affiliates with the republican 
party, and takes an active interest in its cam- 
l)aigns. 

Mrs. Brown tlied in 18()1 at Houghton, 
Michigan. She was a woman of more than 
ordinary literary attainments, having re- 
ceived her education at Albion, Orleans 
county. New York, and had taught school in 
New York and Michigan for a number of 
years. 

Mr. Brown, in 1849, being seized with the 
gold fever, which at that time raged through- 



out the country, went bj' the overland route 
to California, and for eighteen months was 
engaged in mining, meeting with success. 



/^LARK P. COUNCILMAN, one of the 
xs>' promment and successful farmers in 
the southwestern part of Pope county, is a 
resident of section 3, Hoff to-\\T]Bhip. He is 
a native of the State of New York, born 
March 4, 1829, and is a son of Henry and 
Lucy (Wilkinson) Councilman, who wei'e 
natives of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, 
respectively. His parents were married in 
New York State, and lived there until the 
time of their deaths. The}' were the parents 
of seven children, as follows — William, Clark 
P., Harmon. Elizabeth, Harriet, Truman 
and Penbrook. 

ClarkP., our present subject, received his ed- 
ucation mostly in Broome count}', New York, 
attending until he had reached the age of . 
fifteen. He was then thrown upon his own 
resources, and for a number of years was 
engaged at various kinds of labor. In 
1864, he removed to Michigan, where he 
lived for eleven years, and then came to 
Minnesota, locating in Wabasha countv, 



where he 



was engaged 



in farming. Four 



years later he removed to Sherburne county, 
Minnesota, where he remained two years, and 
then settled at Ilassel Lake, Swift county. 
In 1882, he came to Pope county, and pur- 
chased 200 acres of land on section 3, Hoff 
township, where he has since remained, 
carrying on general farming and stock- 
raising. He has been very successful in his 
farming operations, and is rated as one of 
the most reliable and substantial farmers in 
that jiart of the county. In ]iolitical matters 
he affiliates with the republican ]iarty. In 
former years he was a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, but of late years has not 
paid so much attention to social organizations' 



POPE COUNTY, MUVN^ESOTA. 



163 



Mr. Councilman was married in Septem- 
ber, ISCS, in ]\[icliigan, to Miss Anna Collins, 
a native of Massachusetts, and a daughter 
of Thomas Collins. She was raised and 
educated in jNIichigan. Mr. and Mrs. Coun- 
cilman are the parents of two children — 
Ferris and Cora. ^[rs. Councilman is a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Chinvh. 



T^SITON. MICHAEL A. WOLLAN, thepres- 
Jf'3L entrepresentative from thisdistrict in 
the State Legislature, is one of the most promi- 
nent and representative citizens of Glenwood, 
a member of the Fremiid Association, and 
one of the most able antl inlhiential business 
men of Pope county. lie is a native of Nor- 
way, born January 12, 1841, anil a son of 
Benjamin O. Wollan, a sketch of whom ap- 
pears in another department of this volume. 

In his boyhood days Michael attended 
school in his native land, and in ISliO came 
to the United States with his parents, locat- 
ing in Allamakee count3\ Iowa, where our 
sul)jeet worked at farm labor. He remained 
in Iowa and the southern part of Minnesota 
until 1868, when he came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, remaining some si.x months, and 
then went to the southern part of the State, 
and was there engaged at various kinds of em- 
ployment until 18tjy. He then returned and 
settled in White Bear Lake township. Pope 
county, where he worked on a farm. 

In the fall of 1870 he was elected register 
of deeds of Pope county, and two years later 
was rei'Iected, serving four years. In 1874 
he was appointed postmaster at Glenwood, 
retaining the office for about four years, when 
he resigned. In the fall of 1876 Mr. Wollan 
was elected to represent the district com- 
posed of Pope, Stevens, Grant and Big Stone 
counties, in the Lower House of the State 
Legislature, and made a ci'editable record. In 
18S6 he was elected to represent Pope county 



in the same body, and at present holds that 
position (August, 1888). In the last Legisla- 
ture, which was one of the most important 
sessions held in the history of the State, his 
experience and ability were recognized in 
the formation of the House Committees, and 
he was placed upon several of the most con- 
spicuous of these. 

In 1878 Mr. Wollan was elected county 
auditor and served for six years. In village 
matters he has also taken an active interest, 
and in 1880 and 1887 lie served as a mem- 
ber of the council, and the latter j'ear as 
president of that body. It will thus be seen 
that he has l)een one of the most i)r(miinent 
citizens of the county, and his name is con- 
spicuously anil indissolubly connected with 
the official history of both village and 
county. A man of the strictest integrit\', of 
untiring energy and enterprise, he is to-day 
one of the most influential citizens of this 
part of the State. 

Mr. Wollan began mercantile life in 1873, 
when, in company with two of his brothers, 
he enoraged in the hardware trade. This was 
finally merged with the business of the Fre- 
miid Association, which was organized and 
incorporated in 1874. In this organization 
our subject held the position of president 
until 1888, and still retains his interest therein. 
He carries on a farm of 160 acres near the 
county seat, and has one of the finest resi- 
dences in Glenwood, surrounded by shade and 
ornamental trees. 

Michael A. AVollan was first inari'ied, in 
1871, to Miss Isabell Eigg, a native of Nor- 
way, and a daughter of Ole.Kigg, Sr. This 
marriage was blessed with seven children, only 
five of whom are now living, as follows — 
Bertha S., Dorothy L., Josephena B., Oliver 
B. and Mabel I. Mrs. Wollan, the mother 
of these children, died Januarv 6, 1884. She 
was a woman of high character, and a worthy 
member of the Lutheran Church. In 1887 
Mr. Wollan was again married, his bride be- 



1 54 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



iiiff Miss Hilma Koefod, of Glenwood, a nOr 
tive of Norway, ami a daughter of II. Koe- 
fod. By tliis union there has been horn one 
son, Holger A\". liotli Mr. and Mrs. AVolliin 
are exemplary and jn'oniinent members of 
the Lutlieran Church. Mr. Wollan is tlie 
organist, and is a member of the church 
council of the Distinct Synod which embraces 
Minnesota. Dakota and on west to the Pa- 
cific coast. 

In ])olitical matters our subject affiliates 
with the I'epublican party. 



JTOSEPH C. HUTCHINS, one of the oldest 
W settlers in Tope county, and now alead- 
ino- and influential farmer residing on sec- 
tion 24, Leven townslii]), has the distinction 
of beino: the oldest settler still living in the 
northern part of the county. Mr. Ilutchins 
was born in the town of Knox, Waldo 
county, Maine, on the 29th of August, 1824, 
and is a son of Cyrus and Rachel (Chandler) 
Ilutchins. The father died in Minneapolis 
in the spring of 1887, at the age of ninety- 
four, and the mother is still living in that 
city at theri])eold age of eighty-four. They 
raised a family of four children, as follows — 
Joseph, Mary, Rhoda and Charles A., of 
whom all are dead except Mary and Joseph. 
Charles A. enlisted in Company D, First 
Minnesota Infantry, and after about three 
j'^ears' service was discharged on account of 
disability, contracted in the service. After 
remaining at home a shoi't time he again en- 
listed, in Hatche's Battalion, and served 
until the close of the war. He then re 
turned home, and died about ten years later. 
Rhoda died when about sixteen years of 
age. 

Joseph C. ilutchins spent his boyhood 
days and received his education in Maine, 
attending school until he was about sixteen 
years of age. He remained at home until 



he was twenty-one, and then started in life 
for himself. For three years he was in 
various portions of ^lichigan and Wisconsin. 
At the expiration of that time, in 1S51, he 
came to St. Anthonv, Minnesota, antl worked 
at farming in that vicinity until the summer 
of 1802. He then came to Pope county, ar- 
riving here on the 3d day of July, and 
located upon his ]ii'esent place, on section 24, 
Leven township. He was shortly afterward 
driven away by the outbreak of the Indians, 
which began in August, lSfi2. He then sent 
his family to Minneapolis, while he went to 
Sauk Center, and there enlisted in the State 
service. He was emploj'ed at scouting most 
of the time, ranging clear to the south line 
of the State. On one of these trips he rode 
over a hundred miles without getting out of 
the saddle except for a drink of water. He 
was discharged in December, 1862, and went 
to Minneapolis, where he remained during 
that winter and the following summer. He 
then came back to Pope county, and has 
been a resident of Leven township since that 
time. His was the first homestead taken 
in the township. He aided in the oi'ganiza- 
tion of the townshi]j, and was one of the first 
township officers, the ]>rincipal parties who 
were prominent in securing the organization 
and who filled the offices being— J. C. Hutch- 
ins, A. C. Peck, David Ross, Daniel Pennie, 
William Wright and Mr. Phelps. Mr. 
Ilutchins has always taken an active in- 
tej-est in public matters, and his name is 
prominently identified with the official his- 
tory of both the town and county. He was 
the first chairman of the township super- 
visors, and is at present a member of the vil- 
lage council of Villard. Mr. Hutchins has 
one of the most valuable farms in the noith- 
ern part of the county, and devotes his 
attention extensively to stock-raising, having 
a fine lot of graded Jersey and Ilolstein 
cattle. 

Mr. Hutchins was married on the Ttli of 



rorr. couxty, mixxesota. 



m 



November, 1853. to Miss Amelia MoflRtt. a 
native oF Illinois, and a daughter of Willis 
Moffitt. Tliev have been the jiarents of 
seven fhildrqn — Ciiarles W.. Frank. Cyrus, 
Joseph C, Dora, May and Klnicr. 

Although Mr. llutchins was reared a dem- 
ocrat in political belief, he now affiliates with 
tlie i)rolnbition party. 



©LE RIGG, a resident of section 4, and 
one of tiie leading- and most substan- 
tial farmers of Minnewaska townsiiip, is a 
native of Norway. He was born in 1825, 
and is the son of Ole and Engerbei'g (Hol- 
land) liig'g. They followed farm life through- 
out the days of their lives, dying in the land 
of their nativity. They were the parents of 
four children, two of whom are now living — 
Ole and Mrs. Christilan. 

The subject of this biogi'apiiioal sketch was 
reared on his father's farm, remaining there 
unlil the death of his ])arents. when Oh^ sold 
and came to America, in lSti5, lirst settling 
in Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he worked 
for three years. In 18G8 he moved to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and claime<l a homestead 
of lOo acres, where he now lives. At first 
he built a log cabin 16x16 feet in size, but 
since that time has provided himself with 
good buildings. Upon entering his home- 
stead he at once commenced turning the vir- 
gin soil preparatory to subduing his prairie 
farm. lie has been a successful raiser of 
both grain and cattle, and is looked upon by 
all iis an energetic farmer who believes in 
honest toil. He has held the office of super- 
visor for three years, and is a consistent re- 
publican, working for the best interest of his 
adopte<l country. He and his family all be- 
long to the Lutheran Church. 

Mr. lUss was maiTied in IS-IS to Miss 
So])hia (,>vam, of Norway, l)y whom eleven 
children were born, si.x of whom are now 



living — Ole, Martin, Svei'e, Dorothy, ,Tose- 
phena and Clara. Ole married Maren Ann 
Troen, to whom were born nine children, 
live of whom are living — Ole, Jacob, Petei-, 
Otto and Josephena. Martin niai tied Emily 
Johnson, who is the motherof four children — 
Leonard, AVhilhelme, Fertlinand and Cora. 
Svere married Elena Lee. Dorothj'^ married 
Maginnis Koeford, to whom have been born 
four children — Herman, Magnus, Sigvard 
and ^'olburg. Josephena married Gourgen 
Aal. This union has been blessed by thebirth 
of one child. (]lara nuirried Eilert Keoford, 
to whom one child has been born. 



^^EORGE W. BROWN, a thoroughgoing 
\^A farmer, residing in section 10, of Grove 
Lake township, is a native of England, Ixn-n 
February 28, 1831. He is the son of William 
Brown, who had seven children by his first 
wife and eight by his second wife. Our 
subject was the youngest of his father's 
children by his first wife. His gi'andfathcr 
on his fathei'"s side wasalso named William; 
he was a merchant and hotel-keeper, and 
also ran a small farm. At his death he left 
his property to William, his son. He sold 
this property and afterward ])urchased a 
farm, ])aying $500 per acre for the same. 
He never luul to do manual laboi- on the 
same, but kept a large number of men. He 
was a prominent man in his time and coun- 
try. 

George Brown, our subject, remained at 
home until he was fourteen • years of age, 
then remained with an uncle, woi'king on a 
fai-m for a yeai'. After si.x yeai'S of fai-m 
labor became to America, in 1859, stopping 
Hrst in Massachusetts for three years, work- 
ing at farm labor aiul driving a l)utcher's 
cart. He then went to Canada, where he 
bought l<i(t acres of land, in company with 
his brother Motson. In fouryears he cleared 



1 66 



POPE COUXTY, MIX.XESOTA 



up eighty acres of hea\y timber ianci. After 
I'emaining in Canada for six years he sold 
out to his brother and then came to Fari- 
bault, Rice county, Minnesota. His first 
work there was at harvesting. He soon 
went to Minneapolis, engaging at sawing 
wood on the railroad by horse power, going 
from one station to another. He followed 
this for eight months. In 1867 he started 
from Faribault to explore new regions in 
Pope county. Upon leaving he possessed 
at least a cow and calf and a bull-dog 
valued at sixty dollars and but little else. 
He had previously filed a lioniestead on a 
tract of land in Reno township, Pope county, 
some time in 18<)C. Upon getting into the 
county he found a man had "jumped"' his 
claim anil built a house there. Being some- 
what discoui'aged, he cast about for a time, 
and then took 1 60 acres of school land on sec- 
tion 16, Grove Lake township, where he built 
him a sod house and commenced improving 
his land. Later on he built a log house, and 
now has a farm of 475 acres. In 1885 he 
erected a fine house; he had already built a 
good barn the year previous. His farm has 
a fine grove of artificial trees, and with all 
of the improvements is a most excellent and 
valuable place, as good asan}'^ in the county. 
On Christmas day, 1879, he was married to 
Mrs. Sarah A. Reed, of Grove Lake town- 
ship. She was the only child of William 
and Annie (Rambaugh) Huntei', natives of 
Scotland and Canada. She was brought up 
in the family of John Hoople, who, later in 
life, removed to Rice county, Minnesota. 
They had five children besides Mrs. Brown, 
who was an adojited ihiughter. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brown have no children. They are 
both hard workers, and seem to take delight 
in honest toil. Through their united efforts 
they have surrounded themselves with all 
the comforts of an independent fai'm life. 

Mr. Brown is a republican, and has been 
often honored by local offices. He was town- 



ship treasurer for four years, served on the 
town board two years, and was road com- 
missioner six years. Both he and his esti- 
mable wife are faithful members of the 
United Brethren Church. 

]\Ir. and Mrs. Brown have no children, 
although Mrs. Brown's son by her former 
marriage lives with them. This is Frank 
Reed, who at the present writing is candi- 
date for sheriff of Pope county. 

Mr. Brown has been one of tlie most suc- 
cessful farmers in the county, and his careful 
and intelligent management of his farm has 
]ilaced him among the most well-to-do farm- 
ers in the region in which he lives. He is a 
man of the strictest integrity, and his word 
is recognized as being as good as a bond. 



•«•- 



^if^ 



PLUNDER THARALDSEN, e.x-county 
\^X commissioner, and the oldest re- 
maining settler of Langhei township, is a . 
resident of section 1 of that civil subdivision 
of Pope county. He was born in Langhei, 
Norway, September 27, 184-1, and is a son 
of Tharald Gunderson and Berget (Osmund- 
dotter) Gunderson, who were also natives of 
that kingdom. The father followed farming 
in his native land, and also was engaged in 
mercantile business, which he followed for a 
great many years. He was also a lumber- 
man in the pineries of Norway, and while 
engaged in this he had some 300 men work- 
ing under him. The familv left the Old 
Workl in May, 1861, and, after a nine weeks' 
voyage on the ocean, landed in Quebec. On 
the 1st of June, 1861, they reached the 
United States, and settled in Fillmore 
county, Minnesota, where they remained for a 
short time, and then went to La Ci'osse, AVis- 
consin. From La Crosse they went with an 
ox team to Winnesheik county, Iowa, where 
they lived for four years. They then came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, where they have 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



167 



since remaineil. The parents had a family 
of tiie following children — Osnuind, llalvor, 
Ole, Evind, Ole (deceased), Jorand, and 
Anna. Ole is a merchant in Fertile, Polk 
county, Minnesota. Halvor and Evind 
are partners in the mercantile business 
in Grand Forks, Dakota Teri'itory. Os- 
mund and Jorand are in Dakota, and 
Osmund has been county ti-easurer of 
his county for three or four years. 
Anna is single, and is at home with 
her ])arents. The family settled in Po])e 
county in l^^fiT, and were the second family 
in the township. On coming here the 
father took a homestead on section 1, as did 
our subject and his brother Osmund. Gunder 
put up a "log cabin," 16x24 feet in size, 
but since then has built himself a tine frame 
house. The onl\' settler whom the\' found 
when they located here was a Mr. Benson, 
on section 1-1-, and since then he has moved 
away, leaving our subject the oldest remain- 
ing settler in the township. The parents are 
retired from active labor, and ai-e members 
of the Lutheran Church. 

^[r. Tharaldsen was married, March 22, 
1S79, to Miss Signa Salverson, a native of 
Norway, and they have lieen i)lessed with the 
followinjr children — Beroit.Gulnela.Tliarald, 
Salva, and Olaf. The brother of our sub- 
ject, Evind. w;is married. Xovember 5, 1SS2, 
to Jfiss Anna Hanson, a native of Xorway, 
born .luly 12, 1862, and they have two 
childi'en — Ih'edina and Ida. Gunder Thar- 
aldsen was elected county commissioner in 
1881, and held that position for three years. 
He has also held the following offices — super- 
visor, assessor, justice of the peace, and at 
different times has held every office in his 
township. He and his family are members of 
the Lutheran Chui'ch, of which he has been 
treasurer and secretary. The name of the 
township was given in honor of his old resi- 
dence in Norway — Langliei. Mr. Tharaldsen 
has a Bible in his house which is 250 years I 



old, having been printed in Denmark in 1632. 
He has an extensive farm, well improved, and 
has good buildings nestled in a dense grove, 
part of which is his own planting, pictur- 
esquely' located near Lake AVilliam. 

Mr. Tharaldsen is one of the most relial)le 
and substantial farmers in the southwestern 
part of the county. He is a man of the 
strictest integrity, and is highly esteemed 
both as a neighbor and an exemplary citizen. 



— i— .^« 



^^^ 



^x^LE J. JOHNSON. Of the various busi- 
vi^ ness men who have cast their lot in 
Pope, none is more worth}' of favoi'al)le 
notice than Ole J. Johnson, of Starbuck, a 
member of the drug firm of O. J. Johnson 
& Company, of Starbuck and Glenwood. A 
man of the highest personal character and 
business ability, of the strictest integrity, he 
is one of the leading citizens of the locality 
in which he lives, and one of the most prom- 
inent business men in the county. 

Mr. Johnson was born in Copenhagen, 
Denmark, on the 22d (jf January, 1857. 
His early life was spent at school in his 
native land, and when fourteen yeai-s of age, 
he came to the United States with an uncle, 
and for something over a year lived with him 
at Osakis, Douglas county, ^riiinesota. When 
he was in his sixteenth ye;ir he entered a 
general store at Osakis, as a clerk, and held 
that position for one year. He then went 
to Sauk Center, and for a year clerked in a 
drug store. At the (expiration of that time 
he secured a position as a clerk' in a drug 
store in Minnea]iolis, which lie retained 
from 1874 until 1870. In February, 1870, 
he came to Pope county, and opened a drug 
store at Glenwood. He successfully nuin- 
aged this business alone until the spring 
of 1885, when he admitted Carl Peterson 
to a partnersliip, under the firm name of 
O. J. Johnson A; Conqjany, and Mr. Peter- 



1 68 



rOPF. COCXTY, MI.VXESOTA. 



son assumed control of the business at 
GlenwooJ, while Mr. Johnson removed to 
Starbuck and estal)lished a drug store for 
tlie firm at that point, wiiicli lie has since 
managed. In addition to his mercantile 
business he carries on an extensive loan, 
insurance and collecting lousiness, holding 
tiie office of justice of the ]ieace, and being 
a notary pulilic. Mr. Johnson has always 
taken an active intei-est in public affairs, and 
every enterprise calculated to benefit his 
town or county has always received his sup- 
port and encouragement. While living at 
Glenwood he was prominently identified 
with its growth and development, and was 
one of the most active workers in securing 
water works for the place, and held various 
local offices. Since his settlement at Star- 
buck the same traits have characterized his 
movements, and he has been president of 
the village board every year during his resi- 
dence here. 

]\rr. Johnson was married at Minneapolis, 
in 18711, to Miss Anna 8. Dahl and they have 
i)ef'n l)lessed with the followino' childi-en — 
Clarence Frederick, Otto "William and A\ alter 
Adolph. 



r-^^%RIK N. BARSNESS, a prominent and 
V_LV highly esteemed citizen of I>arsness 
township, resides on a beautiful farm of 480 
acres, with comfortable improvements, on 
section 14. lie was born at Bargenstadt, 
Norway, November 27, 1842, and is the son 
of Nels and Augusta- Bai-sness, who ai-e na- 
tives of the same kingdom. 

He remained at home, working on the 
farm in the summers and goino-to school dur- 
ing th(! winters, and early imbibing those 
principles that constitute the self-made man- 
In 1861 he came to this country and located at 
Stoughton. Dane county, "Wisconsin, where he 
engaged in farming and working out among 



the farmers in the neighborhood. In Decem- 
ber, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Fifteenth 
"Wisconsin Infantry. His first engagement 
was at Peri'wille, Kentucky, his second at 
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he received 
rifle ball in his right lung. The agony he 
suffered w^as indescribable, being forced to 
lie on the cold, wet ground during the next 
two days and nights. He was. then taken 
prisoner, and was laid between two wounded 
soldiers, who died in the evening, and all that 
night and the next day until ten o'clock; 
when the stench of the dead men at his side 
became unbearable, he, with difficulty and 
excruciating pain, crawled a short distance 
away. Shorth' after, a rebel, who Avas pass- 
ing by, accosted him and told him that he 
could have a better place if he could walk to 
it, but on his attempting to do so found the 
effort was too great and fell fainting to the 
ground. At this the rebel drew his revolver 
and was about to kill him, Avhen an Irish sol- 
dier, who was at that moment ap|)roaching, 
besought him to spare the wounded man's 
life, and said that he would take him to a 
l)lace of safety. This great-hearted Irish sol- 
dier then removed him to a tent hospital, 
about three miles distant, where he remained 
for six days, when the Union forces scattered 
the rebels, and he was once again with 
friends. During his stay at this impromjitu 
hospital he had for sustenance but one dry 
biscuit. Our subject was then removed to 
IIos])ital No. 2, Nashville, where he staid 
one month, then to St. Louis, where he re- 
mained for a period of four months. He 
then went to back to his regiment, and 
arrived just in time to participate in the bat- 
tle of Missionary Kidge, and was wounded 
in the finger, but did not go to the rear. 
His regiment was then ordered to Eastern 
Tennessee, where they skirmished for three 
months, living on green corn, imt havin": 
Government rations. In the spring of 1SG3 
the regiment went under Sherman, and for 



POPE COUNTY, I'.trNNESOTA. 



169 



the next four months the}' were in constant 
service. Mr. Barsness carried his regiment's 
flag during the entire active service in wiiicii 
he was engaged. 

He remained under Sherman unlil lli^ 
suri-ender of Atlanta, and was mustered out 
December 2, lSfi4. Going ])ack to Wiscon- 
sin, lie again enlisted in Comjian^' K, Second 
United States Veterans, Hancock Corps, but 
di<l no li<>'hting, staving at Washington, 
for about four months, when he was mus- 
tered out of the service, and returned to 
Stoughton. Wisconsin. Here he staid one 
montii, then came to IJarsness townsiiip. 
Pope county, Minnesota, and took a liome- 
stead on section 1-i. wliere he lias since re- 
mained. Wjien he first came to tiiis county 
tliere were Init two claims taken, and l)Lit 
one nuin living hei'c — O. Olson. His nearest 
market was St. Cloud, ;i distance of sevent}'- 
five miles. At that time he paid for seed 
wheat %\.lh per bushel, and received only 
forty cents i)er bushel for his crop, lie paid 
eighteen dollars per barrel for flour, for but- 
ter per })oun(l si.xty cents, and for lard thir- 
ty-fiv(! cents, lie lived for three months on 
lard, flour and molasses. In this manner he 
managed to eke out an existence, and if an}' 
pioneer saw hard times he did. 

Mr. Barsness was married in the spring of 
1868 to Miss Martha Jacobson, and their 
union has been blessed with the following 
children — Anna, Josephine, jS' els, James, Al- 
bert and Martha. Our subject is one of the 
prominent men in histownshi]\ and has been 
honored with the following offices — town- 
ship clerk (two terms), chairman of super- 
visoi-s, school treasurer, etc. 

The subject of our sketch is a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
Lodge No. 54, and was transferred to Glen- 
wood Lodge, No. '.Ml. llo is a member of 
Grand Army of the Republic Post 38. 
Ilis lirsl wife, ^rartlia (Jacob.son) I'arsness, 
died July -I'l, I8S0, and November ;iO, 1882, 



he took as his companion through his re- 
maining life, Miss Betsey Swenson. They 
have been blessed with three children — Ida, 
Hilda and Ida. All are living except Ida, 
the first named. The township was named 
after him ami his brothers. 



^^USTAF LARSON, a prosperous and 
\^^ well-to-do farmer, I'csiding on section 
12, New Prairie township, is a native of 
Sweden. He was born in South Sweden, 
September 5, 1S23, and is a son of Jacob and 
So])liia (Forisberg) Larson, also natives of 
that kingdom. Gustaf lived with his ])ar- 
ents until he was sixteen years old, when he 
was apprenticed to a merchant, with whom 
he remained six years. He then en<>a<ied 
with another firm as book-keeper for two 
years, when the principal of the fii-m started 
him in business with a general stock of goods. 
After running for al)out five months he was 
bm'ned out, but his old eni])lo\'er stalled him 
again. He was forced to pay SlOO per 
month on his goods for three years. At 
about the ex})iral.ion of that time he was 
again burned out, but had a small insurance. 
In 18.^8 lie came to America, settling first in 
Chicago, Illinois, wiiere he worked as night 
watchman for a railroad company. After 
working seven years he moved to Shelby 
ctMiiity, Illinois, where he bought a farm and 
engaged in that occupation until 1870. 

In 187o he sold out and came to Kandi- 
yohi county, Minnesota, remaining there 
eighteen months. In 1872 he came to Pojie 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead on 
section 12, New Prairie township, hisjiresent 
place of residence. 

The subject of this sketch was married in 
Sweden, November 14, 1851, to Miss Sophia 
Liiguist, and they have been blessed with 
six children^ — Carl Nicholas, Wilhclinena, 
Josephena, llulda, Christina, Anna and 



I70 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Emma. Carl was killed while braking 
on the St. Paul & Pacific Eailroad. Wil- 
helraena lives in Morris, and is married to 
D. T. Wheaton. Josephena lives in White 
Bear Lake townshij), and is married to Gus- 
taf Peterson. 

Mr. Larson has always taken an active and 
leading part in all matters of a public or 
educational nature, and his name is promi- 
nently and indissolubly associated with the 
official history of both town and county. 
For a numljer of years he held the office of 
county treasurer of Pope county, and also 
served for several years on the board of 
county commissioners, making in each office 
a record for honest_y and ability highly cred- 
itable to himself and satisfactory to his con- 
stituents. He has also tilled a great many lo- 
cal offices, such as school district clerk, super- 
visor, justice of the peace, etc. In 18T2 he 
was appointed postmaster of New Prairie 
postoifice, which was then established. He 
held the office until 1S83, when it was discon- 
tinued, or rather, removed, under the new 
name of Cyrus, to the railway station — the 
raih"(jad liaving been built in the mean time. 



^-4-^ 



^«.- 



n@)OBERT E.JOHNSTON, a prominent 
Jfe^ and liighly esteemed merchant of 
Lowry, is a native of Canada, born in Tees- 
water, P>ruce county, June 23, 1861. His 
father died wiien our subject was seven years 
of age, and lie lived witli his mother, going 
to school until he was nineteen years old. 
At that age he came to this country, and 
worked on a farm, foi' a year, tiien went at 
teaching school, in whicii lie was eniiao-ed 
for ten terms. After teaching, he secured 
a position as clerk in Mr. line's store, in 
Glen wood, j\finnes(jta. In thespringof ISSS 
he went to Lowry, Po])e county, Minnes(jta, 
and went into partnership, with the lii-m of 
■Mclver & Hume, after wliicli tiie lirm name 



stood as Johnston, Mclver & Hume. They 
are doinga good general merchandising busi- 
ness and are well and favorabl\' known 
throughout the township and county. 

The subject of our memior was married, 
April 21, 1887, to Miss ]\rinnie Y. Paie, and 
they have been blessed with one child — 
Clinton Eugene. 



/^!^i\LE KITTELSON, one of Pope county's 
^^x earliest settlers and most highly re- 
spected citizens, is a resident of section 18, 
Lake Johanna township. He was born in 
Norway, October 28, 1819, and during the 
first eighteen years of his life went to school, 
after which he was engaged in farming. In 

DO O 

1853 he came to this country, and after land- 
ing in New York City went to Boone county, 
Illinois. He remained there five years, then 
moved to Nebraska, where he staid three 
years. In 1862 he came to Pope county,- 
Minnesota, where he remained until two 
months after the great Sioux massacre broke 
out. At the first vague reports he decided to 
remain, but the danger soon became so great 
that he hastily packed up and moved to Good- 
hue county, Minnesota. After two yeai's' so- 
journ in that place he returned to his farm, 
where he has since lived. 

Our subject was married in Norway, March 
25, 1817, to Miss Betsy Olson, who is a native 
of Norway, Ijorn November 15, 1829, and 
tliey have lieen blessed witli tlie following 
children— Ciiarles. Ole, Knute, Andrew, Lewis 
and ifatilda. Matilda is married to Mi'. 
Thomjison, of Stearns county, Minnesota, 
diaries and Ole are also married. Julius and 
Anna are dead, and buried in Poi)e county. 
His wife lias four brothers and sisters. Mr. 
Kittelson is the next to the youngest in the 
family. Oursuliject has always taken an act- 
iv(! interest in public affairs, and has held tiie 
billowing offices — justice of the peace, su|)er- 



rorr. county, minxesota. 



visor, school treasurer, etc. lie, with liis 
family, iire members of the Lutheran ciiurch, 
of which he is one of the deacons. ]\Ir. Kit- 
telson is a republican in his political attjiia- 
tions. Mr. Kittelson has one of the finest 
farms in the county. It comprises 2U0 acres 
of weilimproved land with excellent build- 
iiii;' improvements. lie lias eleven licad of 
horses, and is extensively engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising. 



»-^. 



LE B. LEE, the subject of this sketch, is 
a. resident of section 17, Nora town- 
ship. He was born in Norway, eighteen 
miles from Christiania, at "W alders, August 
1), 1833, and is a son of Bare and Ingel)ar 
(Anderson) Olson, who wei'e also natives of 
that kingdom. He learned the carpenter's 
trade from his father, and at tiie age of 
eighteen he commenced life for liimself by 
working out at his trade. In ISiU he came 
to the United States and settleil in Dane 
county, "Wisconsin, where he worked at his 
trade until October 1, 1S62. He then came 
to Highland, Iowa county, AV'isconsin, and 
after working tiiree years at liis tra<le he 
went to Winneshiek county, Iowa, and after 
working three years in that county he went 
to Mower county, Minnesota. He woi-ked 
there three years at his trade, and, in 1871, 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and took 
homestead on section 20, Nora township, 
where he lived thirteen years. He then 
sold out and bought 280 acres in the follow- 
ing sections: Eighty acres in 16, forty acres 
in 21, eighty acres in 20 and eighty acres in 
17, where his residence is located. 

Mr. Lee was married, in October, 1854, to 
Miss Anna Severson, daughter of Sever 
Peterson and Betsy Tliompson, and tiiey have 
the following children — Sever, Emma, Ole A., 
Betsy, Tolef, Theodore and Eennet. His 
wife died March 1, 1881, and his second 



marriage occurred December 5, 1882, to Miss 
Ingebar Tolofson, daughter of Tolof and 
Guri (Paulson) Olson, and the}' have been 
blessed with the followng children — Anna, 
Gurena and Aragena. He and his family 
are members of the Lutheran Church. 
He has lost two crops by the '* hoppers." 
He now has a good farm, eight hoi'ses, seven- 
teen head of cattle, and is rated as one of 
the most reliable I'armei's in Nora. He lias 
lost one hoi'se by lightning and a great 
many cattle by disease, but, notwithstanding 
his misfortunes, he is now in good circum- 
stances. 

Mr. Lee is a man of strict integrity and 
honor, and is at present the chairman of the 
board of supervisors. He had at one time 
the contract to carry mail over the route be- 
tween Glen wood and Morris. In political 
matters he affiliates with the republican 
party. 

-• ^— — 

WILLIAM .1. CARSON, one of the 
most pi-ominent and successful busi- 
ness men in Pope county, is a resident of 
Glen wood, where he is engaged in the loan 
and i-eal estate business. He has large real 
estate and financial interests throughout the 
county, and his integrity and business capa- 
l)ilities have built him an extensive business. 
No resident is better or more favorably 
known throughout tiie county, and he is 
justly rated as one of the leading business 
men in this part of the State. 

Mr. Carson is a native of Woodford coun- 
ty, Illinois, born November 23, 1853, and is 
a son of Rev. William P. and Rebecca J. 
(Eraser) Carson, natives of Pennsylvania. 
Rev. William P. Carson, a Presbyterian cler- 
gyman, was a graduate of Oberlin College, 
and a man of much ability. He followed his 
cliosen calling throughout life, and died 
when forty-seven years of age, at Epwortli, 



172 



POPE COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



Iowa. Ilis widow is now a resident of 
Gridely, McLean county, Illinois. The Eev. 
Mr. Carson and wife were the parents of five 
children, three of whom are now living — 
"William J., Marv E. (now Mi's. F. Kent), and 
George F. 

William J. Carson, the subject of our 
present article, attended school until fifteen 
years of age, in the seminary at Ejiworth, 
Iowa, and also received instructions from his 
father. "When he had arrived at the age 
mentioned, he went to Illinois, but was back 
and forth'between there and Iowa, spending 
most of the time in the latter State, until 
nineteen years of age. He then learned the 
art of telegraphy in Iowa, and after this, 
although not successively, he spent some ten 
years employed as a telegrajili (ipci'atoi' and 
station agent. In 1S77 he engaged in the 
hardware business at St. Ansgar, Iowa, but 
eighteen months later he sold out and came 
to Minnesota. He was first stationed at 
Benson, where he had charge of the Manito- 
ba Railway station. Later he quit railroad- 
ing and began selling the lands of that com- 
pany, thereby drifting into the real estate 
business, which he has followed ever since. 
In 1882 he came to Glenwood, and took 
charge of the lands belonging to the Mani- 
toba Company in Pope county. He erected 
a tasty and commodious dwelling, and this 
has since been his home. In addition to his 
railroad lands he has a very large outside 
list of lands, and is by far the most extensive 
land dealer in the county. He has a com- 
plete set of absti-acts of Pope county, and 
carries on this line in connection with his 
other business interests. Mr. Carson owns 
some 800 acres of land in the county, 100 
of which are located upon the shores of Lake 
Minnewaska — known as the Eagle Point 
propert\\ 

Our subject was married, in 1878, to Miss 
Indiana M. Colbjornsen. a daughter of Carl 
Colbjornsen, of Grue, Norway. They have 



three living children — Mabel M., Clarke J. 
and Leila K. Carl P., which was the name 
of the first born, died when six months old, 
at I>enson. 

In ])olitical matters Mr. Carson affiliates 
with the republican party. He was post- 
master at Glenwood from 1883 to 1885. 
Every move or enterprise calculated to ben- 
efit his town or county has alwa^'S received 
his hearty support, and he may well be 
classed among the leading citizens of the 
countv seat. 



%^^^ 



>MIeNRY C. carpenter, one of the 
-ir^JL most intelligent and infiuential stock- 
raisers and general farmers in the southwest- 
ern part of Pope county, the sul)ject of our 
present sketch, is a resident of section 18, Iloff 
township. He is a native of North Ferris- 
burgh, Vermont, born April 14, 1850, and is 
a son of McKenzie and Juliette II. (Walker) 
Carpenter. The father in early life read law, 
and practiced that profession for a number 
of years in his native State, but during his 
later years followed farming. In 1802 he 
removed to Minnesota and located at North- 
field, Pice county, but four yeai-s later he 
returned to the East and settled at"\^ineland. 
New Jersey, where he lived until the time 
of his death, in 1884. The widow still lives 
with her son, our subject. McKenzie Car- 
penter and wife were the parents of seven 
children — C^yrus, James, Otis, Henry, Emery, 
Adelaide and Eva. 

Henry C. Carpenter spent his school days 
at the place of his birth, and finished his 
education at Northfield, Minnesota, when 
sixteen years of age, by a course in the High 
School at that place. When he was about 
twenty 3'ears of age he started in life for 
himself, and went to the oil region near 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was em- 
ployed for five or six weeks, and then pro- 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOr.\. 



173 



ceeded lo Connecticut, where lie was emplo\'ecl 
at mettle spinning for Eward, Miller & Corn- 
pan}^ for about ten years. At the expira- 
tion of that time he came to Minnesota and 
located at Hancock. For two years he was 
enoageil in handlin<;- silverware Un- the iler- 
iden llritannia Company, of Connecticvit, and 
then in March, 1SS2, he located upon the 
farm in llotf township. Pope county, where 
he still lives, lie operates 320 acres of land, 
located on sections 7 and 18, and carries on 
jjenei'al farniin"-. tog-ether with stock-raising. 
lie devotes a great deal of attention to rais- 
ing blooded and graded stock, and his herd 
includes a number of fine animals, among 
which the following deserve special mention — 
" Aberileen Angus," an imported animal ; 
Guernsey, and a Jersey. 

Mr. Carpenter was married February 4, 
1875, to Miss Antoinette Van Dyke, a native 
of New York City, and a daughter of George 
R. and Elnora (Reeves) \^an Dyke. Her 
parents, who were natives of New York, are 
both dead. !\Irs. Carpenter was reared and 
educated in her native Stale, (inishino- her 
education at Catskill, on the Hudson lliver, 
New York. 

Mr. and Afi-s. Carpenter are the jiarentsof 
two children — Eva M. and Lynn O. The 
family are Baptists, but attend the Congre- 
gational church at Hancock. In political 
matters our subject is a jH-ohibitionist and a 
member of the Sons of Temperance. 



T^ATHEW CHRISTILAW, a promi- 
^\tr%^ "onl farmer, residing on section 
25, Reno township, is a memljer of the first 
family that settled within the present limits 
of that township. He is a native of Huron 
county, Canada West, born April 1, 1847, and 
isason of William and Jane (Stanley) Christi- 
law. The ])arents were botli natives of 
Canada, who were reared and educated there. 



and were married there. The father in early 
lifelearned the carpenter's trade, and lollowcd 
that calling for a few years, but the most of 
his life has been devoted to farming. In 
1866 the family came to Pope county, arriv- 
ing here in October of that year, and settled 
in what is now the town of Reno. The 
father located on section 28, where he still 
lives, although he has, to a large extent, 
retired fi'om the active cares of business. 
The mother died in Januar}^ 1888, bein<>- 
sixt3^-five years of age at the time. Tliey 
raised a family of five boys and one girl, all 
of whom are married and are still liviu"^ — 
five of them in Pope county. Their names 
are — Mathew, James, George, John, William 
and Elizabeth, (ieorge is in New ]\fexico, 
where he has held the office of sheriff, and 
also been policeman. He was seriously shot 
in 1866, the ball passing through his neck, 
and for nine days he lay senseless from the 
effects of it. 

Mathew Chi'istilaw, our present sul)ject, 
spent his school-days in Huron county, 
Canada, attending school until he was six- 
teen years of age. After that he assisted 
his father on the farm until he was of afe. 
coming in the meantime, in 1866, with the 
family to Pope county, Minnesota. When 
he had attained his majority he took a home- 
stead on sections 25 and 26, Reno township, 
where he has since lived, devoting his atten- 
tion to general farming and stock-raising. 
He has a valuable farm, with comfortable 
improvements, and is recognized as one of the 
most solid and substantial settlers in the 
county. 

I\fr. Christilaw was first married, in 1871, 
to Miss Percilla Truax, who died a little over 
a year and half after their raarnage. 

On the 23d of December, 1875, Mr. Chris- 
tilaw was again married, Lucy Ellen Iloun- 
sell becoming his wife. This marriage was 
blessed with five children, two of whom are 
dead and thi'ee are living — Charles, May 



174 



rOPE COUNTY, AUN.VESOTA. 



and Mathew Erwin. Carrie J. died March 
10, 1888, and one child died in infancy. The 
niotlier of tliese cliiidren died in ISSi. She 
was a hidy of high Christian cliaracter and 
an exemphuy member of tlie Episcopahan 
Church. 

Mr. Christilaw was married to his present 
wife on tlie 3rd of March, ISSC, and tlieir 
marriage has been blessed witii one child, 
named Stanley. 

]\Ir. (Jhristilaw is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and is one of the most intelligent 
and inttuential farmei's in his township. In 
political matters he is a republican, and has 
always taken an active interest in all public 
matters, being at this writing chairman of 
the board of supervisors of Keno township. 



i^^EORGE FOWLDS, a prosperous and 
\^J highly esteemed citizen of the eastern 
part of Pope county, is a resident of section 
fi, Bangortownsliip. Our subject is a native 
of Canada, born July 6, 1857, and is a son of 
John and Margaret (Morrison) Fowlds, who 
are natives of Scotland. His parents re- 
mained in that country until the year 1854:, 
when they came to Canada and remained 
there until they moved to Minnesota, settling 
in St. Charles, Minnesota, where they lived 
for two years. They then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota. The father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch has always been engaged 
in farming, and received his education in 
Scotland. His father, who was a cabinet- 
maker, died in 1825. 

George Fowlds received his education in 
St. Charles and Winona, finishing in Pope 
county. lie is a practical business man, 
and has been engaged in his present 
business as a farmer for twelve years. He is 
a single man, and is highly esteemed in his 
township. He was one of the first suj)er- 
visors of the township, having held that 



office three years, and is also treasurer of his 
school district. He has the following broth- 
ers and sisters — William. Kittie, Eliza, John, 
Maggie, James and Arthur. Mr. Fowlds 
takes an active interest in all public affairs, 
and in political matters affiliates with the 
republican party. He has a comfortable 
house nestled in a dense grove of his own 
planting, and carries on general farming and 
stock-raisino-. 



NOCH E. WEST, proprietor of the 

^!^ Lake Amelia mills, situated five miles 
east of Glenwood village, is a native of Alle- 
gheny count}', Xew York, and was born July 
4, 1S23. He is the son of Elijah and Amy 
(Lewis) West. Tlie foreparents on the 
father's side were from England. On the 
mother's side the parents were from the East, 
and their foreparents wei'e natives of Hol- 
land. Elijah West was a millwi-ight and a . 
farmer. He moved in 1832, and settled in 
White Pigeon, Michigan, where he followed 
the same business. In 1S47 he moved to 
Mercer county, Illinois, engaging in the 
hotel business at the town of Huron. He 
followed this five years, and in 1852 came to 
j\Iinnesota, settling at Ilokah, in Houston 
county. There he retii'ed from active life 
and remained until his death, in 1857. The 
mother died in 1803. The\' were both mem- 
bers of the Christian Church, and were very 
devoted, active members of the same. They 
left a family of seven sons and one daughter — 
Enoch E., Levi C, Isaac, Frank A. and 
Elizabeth, now Mrs. C. Perry. The two who 
died were Lewis L. and Ruel. 

The subject of our sketch left New York, 
with his parents, when seven j'ears of age, 
and since then has been a pioneer westward 
bound. He remained at home for a time, 
and then embarked in the milling business at 
Constantine, Michigan, remaining two years. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



175 



tlion entered La Grange college, studjnngfor 
a slioi't time, when he left on account of in- 
ttauimation of the eyes, causing blindness for 
a year or so, hut finally regained his eye- 
sight at the Fort Wayne Institute. 

In 1850 he commenced farming in Han- 
cock county, Illinois. After ten years on a 
farm, in 1S60, he came to Rochester, Minne- 
sota, and in 1867 moved to Sank Center, 
Stearns county, Minnesota, where he en- 
gaged in the carriage and wagon business, re- 
maining until 1875. He then came to Pope 
county, wliere he now lives, and purchased 
■iSO acres of land. He also built a flouring 
mill on Chippewa Creek, and first engaged 
in the mei'ciiant business for one and a lialf 
years. The store then burned out, and at the 
time of tlie fire he jumjted from an open 
Avindow, receiving injuries so severe that he 
has since been unal^le to work much. Mr. 
"West was married, in 18(!0, to Miss Eu])ha- 
mia R. Travis, of Hancock county, Illinois, 
the daughter of Hiela and Jane Travis. Mr. 
West has five living children — Amy J., now 
Mrs. Stark (her iiusband died in 18S7\ who 
now lives at Perrv, Kansas, eno-aged in tiie 
hotel and millinery business ; the other 
children are Carrie, now ili's. Walker, of 
Poj)e county, Minnesota ; Eunice E., Hiel E. 
and William AV. 

Mr. West is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and is a strong advocate of i)rohi- 
bition. He has held many public offices, in- 
cluding that of justice of the peace, cliair- 
man (jf tlie l)oard of supervisors in Olm- 
stead county, and various scIiodI offices. He 
may well be styled a leading and prominent 
man of his town and county. His wife died 
April 23, 18.s(i, and was buried at Lake 
Amelia Cemetery. She was an active work- 
er in the Christian Church, and belonged to 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

Their daughter, Francis A., aged twenty- 
one years, died, February IS, 1SS5, and rests 
beside her loving mother. The entire fami- 



ly had musical talent, and always made home 
pleasant ijy their musical notes. "Mr. West 
is a man of sterling worth and integrity, and 
is held in the highest esteem as a neighbor, 
a business man and an exemplar}^ citizen. 



«^^^ 



#EORGE FALKNER, a prominent farm- 
er of Grove Lake township, resides 
upon his S|)]endid farm on section 17. He 
Avas born in England, June 15, 18-17, and is 
the son of Charles and Emma Falkner, also 
natives of England. His father was a con- 
tractor, engaged in constructing macadam- 
ized roadway's. He came to Amei'ica in 
lS-1 7. settling at Mound "Village, Marquette 
county, Wisconsin, where he purchased lan<l, 
upon which he was (juite successful at grain 
and stock-growing. He has been poor-mas- 
ter, town clerk and supei'visoi-. He is still 
living upon his farm, and is a representative 
man of the county in which he lives. The 
mother died September 2, 1878. They were 
the parents of eight children, seven of Avhom 
are now living — Ann, Eliza, Charles, George, 
Aberdeen, Job and Sarah. The parents 
were members of the Methodist Episooi)al 
Church. 

Our subject, George Falkner, was reared on 
his father's farm, where he remained until 
seventeen years old, at which time he enlisted 
in Company " I,'' First Wisconsin Heavy 
Artillery, and I'cmained in the service of his" 
country tor one year. A fter his I'eturn home 
he worked on a farm for eighteen months; 
after this he went into the pineries, and 
served as a teamster about live months. 
Next he was found in the rule of river hand, 
on the Mississippi, going down to LaCrosse 
and Dubu(jue. In 18iJ7 lie came to Pope 
county, where lie took a homestead of 100 
acres, and at once cut logs for a cabin and 
split about 3,000 fence rails, with which 
to enclose his farm. The next seven 



176 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



iiiontlis were spent at farm work in Stearns 
county, Minnesota, after whicii lie i-etnrned 
and spent a couple of months on his kind and 
built his cabin, which was 14x16 feet in size. 
A month was spent at St. Cloud, and from 
there he went to Pine Island, where lie mar- 
ried Miss Eliza f]. House, the daughter of 
David and Fannie (Turney) House, natives 
of England. They came to America in 18-1.5, 
and settled in ]\Iar(juette county, Wisconsin, 
where they jnirchased land and there 
remained until the death of the husband, 
February 23, 1S()3, after which the wife lived 
with her daughter, Mrs. Falkner until her 
death, in ISSi. 

After Mr. Falkner's marriage he went into 
the pineries to work, remaining there for 
four months. He then took lumber to his 
farm from St. Cloud, and took his wife 
with an ox team to their new home, in Pope 
county. He is now the owner of 400 acres 
of choice farm land, 240 acres of which are 
under cultivation. The present year, ISSS, 
he is completiug one of the finest farm 
houses in tlie township. It is lrtx2f! feet and 
16x24- feet, witli posts fourteen feet in the 
clear, besides a summer kitchen 12x10 feet, 
the whole building costing .$1,800. It is esti- 
mated by good judges, that ills farm ]iroperty 
is worth $10,000. 

Mr. Falkner is a re[niblican in political 
matters. 



>:) 'i' 



ELS B. WOLLAN, one of the most 
successful, prominent and liighly 
respected old settlers of Pope county, is 
engaged in the general merchandise business 
at Starbuck. lie was liorn in Noru'ay, 
March IS, l83.j, and was brought up on a 
farm and also at work at the carpenter's trade. 
"Wiicn lie was twenty-two years of age he 
di'cided to seek in America that competencv 
whicli he felt it was impossible to attain in 



the land of his birth, and accordingly sailed 
for Quebec, landing at that place in the 
latter part of June, 1857. He came at once 
to the United States, and settled in Winne- 
sheik county, Iowa, where he remained for 
ten years, working at various occupations. 
In May, 1867, he joined a part}' of seven- 
teen others bound for Northern Minnesota 
in search of suitable claims. He brought 
two yoke of oxen, with camping outlit, and 
three cows, young stock, etc. The party 
ari'ived at Glenwood, July 4, 1867, and re- 
mained thei^e for several daj's, while the 
men looked over the country. As a majority 
of the party were not satisfied with the 
prospects here, they traveled on through 
Douglas and Otter Tail counties, where all 
but four of the party selected claims and 
settled. The I'emaining four — Nels B. 
AVollan, B. C. A\"ollan, Anton Hogenson, 
and Andrew Schey — all returned to Pope 
countv. Thev are all mentioned at lenoth 
elsewhere in this work. Nels B. Wollan at 
once homesteaded the northwest (piai'tei' of 
section 12, White Bear Lake township, and 
immediately began improvements. During 
the first season he erected a house to live in, 
put up a stable for his stock, and broke up 
four acres of land. At that time there were 
less than twenty settlers in the township. 
The nearest railway station was at St. 
Cloud, eighty miles distant, although a store 
and postoffice had been established at Glen- 
wood. In the fall of 1867 Mr. Wollan went 
to St. Cloud and got his famil\', they hav- 
ing come that far by railroad. The first 
wheat raised for market had to be hauled 
to Benson, a distance of thirty miles, and 
with their ox teams the trip used to con- 
sume thi'ee days. Times were hard in those 
days, and the old settlers were obligeil to 
suffer many disadvantages and hardshi])S, 
but those who I'emained and " weathered 
through '" all the reverses, are, as a rule, well 
off to da v. 



rOPE COVXTY, .ViyXESOTA. 



177 



In the fall of 1869 our subject bought a 
threshing machine, the first brought into 
this part of the country. It was an eigiit-iiorse 
power J. I. Case machine, and Mr. Wojiaii 
operated it for a numlier of years. In 
August, ]SP)0, the first ]iostotfice in the town- 
ship was established under the name of 
Wliite Bear Center, and Mr. AVollan was 
commissioned as the first postmaster, and 
lield the office from that time until the 
spring of 1886 — except during the year 1883. 
In the spring of 186S Mr. Wollan was elected 
town treasurer of White Bear Lake town- 
ship, which, as then organized, included the 
territory now known as Ben Wade, Nora, 
New Prairie, Minnewaska and Wliite Bear 
Lake townships. lie has always taken a 
deep interest in all public matters and has 
at different times held about all of the town- 
sliip and school district offices, and also 
served for four years as a member of the 
hoard of county commissioners, making a 
nuwt efficient anil capable officer. When the 
village of Starijiick was organized JNIr. Wol- 
lan was one of the active woi-kers in secur- 
ing the charter. He was elected president 
of the council in 1884, and is now a mcml)er 
of that body. 

In 1 S7< I ^Ir. Wollan, with his two brothers. 
Casper T. and Michael A., opened a store 
with a moderate line of goods, in the liouse 
of Nels B. Wollan, and carried it on there 
for two years, when the stock was removed 
to (ilenwood. In 1ST2 the Fremiid Associa- 
tion was organized In' the Wollan Brothers, 
which has been carried on by them ever 
since at Glenwood. 

In 1879, in company with A. Beterson, our 
subject erected a store on N. B. Wollan's 
farm, in which was placed a stock of general 
merchandise. This was carried on until 1882, 
when it was purchased by the Fremiid As- 
sociation, and the Association opened a branch 
store at Starbuck, which was the first store 
in tlie village. In 1887 our subject, N. B. 



Wollan, bought out the Association's inter- 
est at Starbuck and has since carried on the 
store alone. He cai'ries an extensive stock 
and does a large business. 

In ISS-t Mr. Wollan erected a iiome in the 
villag(> and riMnoved his family from the 
farm, although lie still owns the homcsttMid, 
together with considerable other land in the 
(■ounty. He is an active and exemplary 
nuuuber of the Inherred Luthei'an chui'ch, 
of which he was one of tlie organizers, and 
w'hen the church edifice was erected, he do- 
nated the site upon which it was built. 

Mr. Wollan was married March 22, 1861, 
to Miss Johannes Johnson. They had four 
children, onlv two of whom, however, are 
now living — Benjamin, proprietor of a meat 
market at Starbuck, aiul Balena, now Mrs. 
P. A. Hartley, of Starbuck. Of the deceased, 
one died in infancy, and the other, Ingel)or 
Anna, married O. Ilolte^', and died in Octo- 
l)er, 1S87. Mrs. Wollan died October 22, 
1807 — eight days aftei' her ai'riva! Iiere. 

Mr. Wolkin was again married, in ISli'J, to 
Ilebecca Peterson, and tlun' are the })arents 
of four living chiklren, as follows — Jensena, 
Nettie, Gustaf and Anton The family are 
members of the Luthei'an Church. 



m 



►h4^> 



IaENRY BUTLER, an old settler and 
prominent citizen of tlie northeastern 
part of the county, is a resident of the village 
of Villard. He is a native of Delaware 
county, Ohio, born September 26, 1819, and 
is a son of David and Abigail (Barr) Butler. 
His father was born on an Island off the 
coast of Massachusetts — Martha's Vineyard — 
and his mother was a native of Stock- 
bridge, in the same State. In 1805 the fam- 
ily of his parents went to Ohio, going over- 
land, with teams, as that was before the 
time of the railroads, and were obliged to 
cut their wav for over fortv miles thronifh 



1/8 



POPE cor.vrv, mixxf.sota. 



the dense wilderness from Chillicothe to 
Delaware. At that time there was not a 
sign of civilization on tlie ])resentsite of Co- 
lumbus. The parents both died in Ohio — 
the mother February 8, 1857, and the father 
A^n'il 2, 1869. David lUitler and wife were 
the parents of twelve children. 

John r.arr. the father of Al)igail (Barr) 
Butler, and grand fati)er of our subject, was 
a native of Glasgow, Scotland. lie came 
to America about 1774 and settled at Rich- 
mond, Virginia. During the Revolutionary 
War lie enlisted and served as a body guard 
for General Geoi'ge Washington. By his mar- 
riasre he became the father of seven children 
— .Tared, Abigail, Alva, Henry, Ebenezer, 
Oiliver and Polly. Olliver was killed in the 
great railway wreck at JSTorwalk, Connecti- 
cut. He was a noted Christian iireacher, and 
hail been a great itinerant, having preached 
in every county in nineteen States. 

Henrv Butler spent his boyhood days and 
received his education in Erie county, Ohio, 
on the banks of Lake Erie, attending school 
and working on the farm until he was twenty 
vears of age. He then became a sailor on 
the great lakes and followed that vocation 
for two years. On the 8th of September, 
1842, he was inarried to Miss Hannah 
O'Dell. In 1857 they removed to Clark 
county, Missouri, where they lived for 
twelve years. On the 14th of November, 
18G2, Mr. Butler enlisted as a private in 
Company I, Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry. This 
was an independent regiment organized for 
protection, and our subject soon rose to the 
rank of second lieutenant. He participated 
in the battle of Jonesville, Virginia, where 
he, with others, was taken prisoner, and was 
held for nearly a year, spending some eight 
niontlis in the famous Andersonville prison. 
He was mustered out of the service at Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, on the 20th of August, 1865, 
and was discharged at Chicago. He at once 
returned to Clark county, Missouri. In 1869 



they came to Pope county, Minnesota, and 
settled in Leven township, where they were 
among the early settlers and pioneers. lie 
has since made Pope county his home, and 
now resides in Villard, although he owns 
and carries on a farm of 240 acres in West- 
port and Glenwood townships. It should be 
stated that Garrett Butler, a l)rother, en- 
listetl in the same company as our subject, 
and was taken prisoner at the same time — 
spending four months and five days in the 
reljel prisons at Richmond and Belle Isle. 
Garrett Butler has made his home with our 
subject for forty-one years. Both of the 
brothers are members of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, and also of the Masonic frater- 
nity. 

Mrs. Butler was born in Cayuga county. 
New York, and was a daughter of John and 
Betsy (Young) O'Dell. Her parents had a 
famih' of five children, as follows — Polly, 
DoiTiska, James. Hannah and Benjamin. 
Mr. and Mrs. Butler are the parents of four 
children — Lafayette, Ellen, Josephine and 
George II. All the children are married. 
Two of them live in Pope county, one in 
Tennessee, and one in California. Mrs. But- 
ler is an active and exemplary member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



M' 



[^ERMAN AGUSTUS GRAFE, one of 
the leading and ])rosi)erous farmers 
of Pope county, and a resident of .section 22, 
Walden township, was born in Sax Alten- 
berg, Germany, November 4, 1840. In 1848 
his jiarents came to this country and started 
for ]\Iilwaukee, but were afflicted with the 
cholera, and were quarantined at Rochester, 
New York, the mother dying of that disease 
before reaching Rochester. The father re- 
mained at Rochester, and our subject, after 
working for a few years, or until he was six- 
teen years old, came to Randolph, Wisconsin, 



rOPE COCXTY, Ml.WESOTA. 



179 



where he worked on a farm and went to 
school, earning enough money for liis suit- 
port. Tie I'eniained tliere until he was twenty, 
when he couinienced teaching school, which 
he followed, occasionally engaging in other 
occupations, until 186t>, when hi; came to 
Wabasha county, Minnesota. While there 
lie engageil in teaching, farming and thresh- 
ing for about five years, and then came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and took a liome- 
steatl on section 22, Walden townshii). He 
did some breaking, and the same fall was 
married in Wabasha county to Miss Elizabeth 
O. Cooke, and located, in the spring of 1872, 
on ills ju'fsent place of residence. The grass- 
hoppers destroyed his entire crop one year, 
and he then taught school for one winter 
in Ap])leton. 

Oursubject isa man of honor and integrity, 
highly esteemed by all who know him. lie 
has been county sui-veyor for several years 
and chairman of the board of supervisoi's 
for nuiny years. 

Mr. Grafe has five children, four of whom 
are living and at home with tlie parents. In 
political matters he is a prohibitionist both 
in [irecept and practice. 



T^ARTIN PEDERSON, the subject of 
jf\tr'^ this biograi)liy, is a prominent and 
successful farmer of Pope county, residing on 
section 33, Rolling Fork townshiji. He is a 
native of Norway, born ten miles from 
Christiania, Norway, September 20, 1845, and 
is a son of Peter and Betsey (Petei-son) 
Olson, who were also natives of that king- 
iliiHi. (Jur subject lived with his parents 
until he was twenty-four years of age, dur- 
ing which time he worked out a gre;it deal. 
In ISC'.t became to the United States, set- 
tling liisi in Fillmore county, Minnesota, 
where he worked for farmers most of the 
time during live years. lie then came to 



Pope county, Minnesota, where he bought a 
farm of 160 acres on section 33, Rolling 
Foric township. At the time of his ])urchase 
the claim was wikl land, and he now has over 
eighty acres under cultivation, a good house, 
owns four horses, eighteen head cattle, and 
all the farm machinery he needs. 

Mr. Pederson was a ])oor man when he 
came here, but by that thrift, economy and 
industry which so distinguish the peojile of 
his nationality, he has placed himself in his 
present excellent circumstances. 

The marriage of Mr. Pederson occurred on 
the 30th day of March, 1879, when he was 
united to Miss Anna Davidson, daughter of 
Ole and Sogar (Nelson) Davidson, and they 
have the following children — Peter P>., Ole 
S., Bernt A., and Odena S. 

Mr. Pederson is a highly esteemed citizen 
in his township, and has been honored with 
the following offices : Supervisor, three ^^ears ; 
school director, three years, and in political 
matters he affiliates with the re]:)ublican 
party. 



!\ LBERT G. OLESON,an innuential and 



proiuinent farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 24, Barsness township, is a native of 
Norway. He was born at Ilollingdal, Nor- 
way, October 15, 1845. His parents, Ole and 
Margaret Torreson, moved to this country 
in 1849, settling in Dane count}^, "Wisconsin. 
They remained there until 1854, when they 
moved to Dakota county, ilinnesota. Soon 
after this Albert bade his parents good-bye, 
and, leaving the old home, started out for 
himself. His first venture was to purchase 
a farm, as he had worked out among the 
farmers. When eighteen he began running 
a threshing machine, and continued this for 
three years; a few years later he sold out aiul 
Avent into the mercantile business. He was 
occupied in this for a perioil of three j'ears, 



i8o 



rOPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



when he engaged in the collecting business 
and in running a threshing machine for six 
or seven years. He then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, buying eiglity acres of 
land on section 24, Barsness township, 
and he also holds 300 acres of State land. 
Since coming here he has been very suc- 
cessfully engaged in farming, contracting, 
carpentering, etc. He has always devoted 
considerable attention to threshing, and now 
owns a steam power. 

Mr. Oleson was married, in ISfii, to Miss 
Agnes M. Iverson, and their union has been 
blessed with six children, as follows — Oscar, 
Ida, Martin, Emma, Minnie and Hilda. Mrs. 
Oleson was born in 1855, and is an estima- 
ble lad3^ 

The subject of this sketch is highly es- 
teemed by all who know him, and has been 
honored with various official positions in the 
township in which he lives, such as justice of 
the i^eace, chairman of supervisors, school 
clerk, etc. In political matters he is a 
staunch republican. 



|AMES FOWLDS, a merchant doing bus- 
iness at Chi])pewa Falls, is a native of 
Sterlingshire, Scotland, and was born Sep- 
tember 9, 1852. He is a son of John and 
Margret (Morrison) Fowlds. The father was 
engaged in farm pursuits in Scotland. He 
came to America in 1853, and settled at Lan- 
ark county, Canada, where he rented a 
farm and remained for twelve years. In 
1865 he came to St. Charles, Minnesota, his 
family following the next season. He worked 
out until 1867, then came to Pope county 
and took up a homestead in Bangor town- 
ship. He then returned to St. Charles, re- 
maining over the winter, and brought his 
family to Pope county the following spring, 
going direct to his homestead, where he has 
lived ever since. He first built a log house. 



\vliich has since been replaced by a good sized 
frame house ; he also built him a good barn 
at about the same time. All his farm im- 
provements, including his s]ilendid grove, 
shows him to be a man of much industry and 
enterprise. He has a family of eight chil- 
dren — William, Catherine, Eliza, John, Mar- 
garett, James, Arthur and George. 

James, the subject of this biographical 
sketch, was educated in St. Charles, Winona 
county, Minnesota, and in Pope county. He 
spent his j^ounger days upon the farm and at 
worlcing out for others, thus Ijeginning life's 
career with the formation of the best of hab- 
its, giving character to his after life. At the 
age of twenty-one ye&vs he began life for 
himself. In 1873 he came to Chippewa 
Falls, where he engaged in teaming for J. 
A. Wheeler & Co., drawing flour between 
that place and Benson, for five years. He 
next engaged in trade, operating a general 
store at Chippewa Falls, continuing about a 
_year and one-half, after which he purchased ■ 
a farm of 118 acres in Grove Lake township, 
built and otherwise improved the same and 
sold it after about one year. He again re- 
turned to Chippewa Falls and leased the 
flouring mills, which he successfully operated 
for three years. He then went back into 
merchandising, this time buying out Wil- 
liam Moses, at Chippewa Falls, where he is 
still doing a flourishing business. 

Mr. Fou'lds is recognized as a prominent 
factor in the community in which he lives. 
In 1884 he was elected justice of the peace, 
holding that office for two terms. He has 
also served as both township and school 
treasurer. He hasconsiderai)le village prop- 
erty, including his comfortable residence, 
which he erected in 1880. 

In 1877 our subject was married to Miss 
Nancy J. Morrison, the daughter of William 
and Belle(Ivili)atrick| ISEorrison. Mrs. Fowlds 
was a native of Illinois, and is the mother of 
four intelligent children — Minnie L., Eunice 



POPE COUXTY, MINNESOTA. 



M., Ilobert and Jannie. This once cheery 
houselioUl was saddened, m\ tlie ISth of 
^[arch, 1S8S, by the deatli of the wife and 
mother, Mrs. Fowkis, who was a consistent 
Christian, belonging to the Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church, and died in a glorious faith. 
It may here be added that i[r. Fowlds is a 
zealous prohibitionist, and is doing much good 
in this modern yet wide-spreading reforma- 
tion. He is a man of the strictest integrity, 
and one of the most intelligent and influen- 
tial citizens of the county. 



ents are now living. Mr. Lohre is a man of 
the greatest honor and integrity, and is held 
in high esteem. He has always taken an 
active and prominent part in all public mat- 
ters, and at present holds the oifices of dep- 
uty postmaster and assessor, besides having 
held about all the offices in his township at 
different times. He and his family are ex- 
emplai'v members of the Lutheran Church. 
He has a well-improved farm of 240 acres, 
and is engaged successfully in general farm- 
ing and stock-raising. 



v^LE LOHRE, a prosperous and highly 
■steemed citizen of Pope county, is a 
resident of section 12, Langhei township. 
He is a native of Norway, born in the cen- 
ti'al })art of that kingdom on the ISth of 
January, 1850, and is the son of (.)le and 
^fargret Lohre, who were .also natives of 
Noi'way. They came to the ITnited States 
in IStiT, and settled in Clayton county, Iowa, 
where they I'cmained two years, and then 
went to Minneapolis, where they remained 
one year. They then came to Pope countj^ 
Minnesota, and our subject settled on his 
])i-esent place, and has lived there ever since. 
His mother died in 1878. 

Ole Lohre, the subject of the jjresent arti- 
cle. s])ont his school days in his native land, 
aiul at the age of sixteen years engaged in 
farming, in which occupation lie lias since 
been employed. He learned the carpenter's 
trade, and has worked at it to some extent, 
though farming has been his chief industry. 

Mr. Lohre was nuirried January 1, ISTf!, 
to Miss Sarah Nelson, and they have been 
blessed with the following children — Mar- 
grethe, Ole, Nels, Carl, Oleva and Eliza. 
Mrs. Loiire is a native of Norway, and came 
to the [Inited States in IST-t with her parents, : 
and, after landing in New York, they went to | 
Fillmore county, Minnesota, where her par- ' 



OHN S. WINSLOW, a resident of section 
33, Westport township, settled there 
in 1ST.5, pui'chasing 200 acres at first, and 
later adding 160 acres more, giving him a farm 
of 300 acres. He is an extensive raiser of 
grain ami fine stock, including Durham 
cattle and Clydesdale horses. Our subject is 
a native of Tioga county, Pennsylvania, born 
November 3, 1824. He remained there until 
thirty years of age, when he was married, 
and engaged in farming and lumbering. He 
is the son of Lewis and Betsey (Shotts) Wins- 
low, natives of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. 
They died in the latter State. The father 
was a farmer and a num of much public spirit 
and influence in his home county. In hfs 
religious belief he was a Baptist. ]\Ir. and 
Mrs. "Winslow, Sr., were the j)arents of seven 
children, t'our boys and three girls — Ellen, 
Zilpha, John S., "Wilson, Elizabeth, ilargret 
and William. Ellen l)ecame the wit'eof Steph- 
en Allen; her husband died in \s\':\, leaving 
a family of four childi'en. .Martiiet died in 
1850. She was the wife of Austin Tliursten, 
and left several childi-en. Elizabeth, the^ 
wife of John C. Thorps, died in 1S70. 

John S. Winslow spent his sciiool tiays in 
his native State. When twenty-one years of 
age he engaged in farm labor. Ilepurcha.sed 
land and lived upon the same for twenty -live 



1 82 



POPE COUNTY, A/JN.ypSOTA. 



years. He married Miss Jenette Loghry, a 
native of Steuben county, Xew York. She 
was the daughter of William and Lucy 
(ITollock) Logliry, wlio were farmers. From 
Pennsylvania Mr. and Mrs. Winslow moved 
to Stevens county, Illini)is, where they bought 
a farm and remained lor one year, then went 
to St. Croix county, Wisconsin, where they 
remained for seventeen years on a farm of 
one hundred acres. From Wisconsin they 
removed to Pope countv, Minnesota. Mr. 
Winslow is a first-class farmer, and stands 
high in the opinion of his neighliors. He has 
served as a member of the board of super- 
visors for eight years; has also been school 
director and treasurer, and always takes an 
active pai't in public affairs. Their family 
consists of six children, five boys and one 
girl — George, John, Miles, Elizabeth, William 
and Orlando, all of whom are married except 
Miles. The latter located on a 300 acre 
farm in Eddy county, Dakota. 

Mr. Winslow has been a lifelong democrat, 
and in his religious connection, belongs to 
the United Brethren Church. 



■•V' •! 



JIJENJAMIN TROEN, the subject of our 
J-lLy pi'csent article, is one of the most in- 
Huential and suljstantial farmers and stock- 
raisers of ]\[innewaska township, a ])romiiient 
man in all public affairs of the township, and 
withal an excellent representative of the 
best class of fanners in Pope county. He 
has a valuable farm on section 4 of the town- 
shi|) named, and his energy, economy and 
industry are abundantly evidenced by the 
fact that the building improvements and 
general condition of the ])lace are a credit 
to his enterprise, as well as to the locality in 
which tiiey ai'e situated. 

JJenjamin Troen was born in Xorway in 
1852, and is a son of Peter and Martha 
(AVollan) Ti'oen. His parents were natives 



of Norway. The family came to the United 
States in 1871, and made their waj' direct 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and settled in 
White Bear Lake township. The father took 
a homestead of ICO acres on section 4, Minne- 
waska township, and settled upon it in 1ST2. 
There they have lived since that time. The 
parents had a family of three children — 
Mary A., now Mrs. Ole Kigg, of Glenwood ; 
Benjamin, our subject, and Henrietta. The 
family are exemplary and respected mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Cluirch. 

I'enjamin Troen, whose name heads this 
article, grew' to manhood beneath the roof 
of his parents' home, and remained in the 
land of his birth until about nineteen years 
of age, when he came to the United States 
and to Pope county, Minnesota, with bis 
parents, as above stated. He received a 
common school education. After coming 
here he worked out for about ten years, and 
then pm-chased eighty acres of land adjoin- 
ing the homestead in Minnewaska township, 
and has since had full control and manage- 
ment of the homestead. 

Our subject was married in 1SS2 to Miss 
Hannah Ilatling, and they are the parents of 
one child, named Marie Otelie. ]\[rs. Troen 
is a native of Norway, and a daugliter of 
Michael and Olivia Hatlino-. 



WILLIAM R. FLEMING, although a 
recent settler, is recognized as one 
of the most capable business men in Pope 
county. He was bjrn in Campsville, Sulli- 
van county, Pennsylvania, and is tiie son of 
John and Zilpha (Rogers) Fleming. His 
father is an extensive dealer in horses and 
also carries on farming. William spent his 
lioyhood days in school at Towanda, Peim- 
sylvania, and graduated at the Sus(|uehanna 
College. He is also a graduate of the War- 
ner Business College in Elmira, New York. 



POPE cocJVTV. Ar/y.vEsor.t 



183 



After completing his education Mr. Fleming 
clerked in ;i drag store in Towanda, Pennsyl- 
vania, lor three oi- four years, and in 1885 he 
came to Minneapolis, ^linnesota, wliei'c lie 
clerked in a drug store for 1). S. Cherry and 
1). S. Merril, until ]\ray 1, ISSS. Our sub- 
ject then came to Lowry, IMinnesota, where 
he went into partnership with L. T). Urown, 
in the business at which he is at ])resent 
engaged. Jfr. Fleming has two sisters living 
in Minneapohs — a Mrs. B. S. Molyneaux. and 
Mrs. O. A. Gardner. Our subject is a man 
of integrity and excellent business ability, 
and is one of the most proficient druggists in 
Pope county. 



f3HN A. FLOTEN, one of Poi)e county's 
most prosperous farmers, resides on sec- 
tion 32, New Prairie township. He was born 
at P>ei'gen Stiff. Norway, September 22, 
18,50. and by his thrift, energy and industry, 
is an excellent representative of that prosper- 
ous nation of which he is a dc'scendant. He 
remained with his ])arents until he was twen- 
tv-on(\ when he tnok charge of his father's 
farm, running it for live years. In 1874 our 
subject came to this country, settling in 
Goodhue county, Minnesota, where he re- 
nuvined one year. He then went to Buffalo 
county. "Wisconsin, and worked for farmers 
for two years. Coming from "Wisconsin with 
an ox team, he then located in Pope county, 
on section 32. New Prairie township, his 
present ))lace of residence. He lived among 
the neiirhboring- farmers the first month after 
coining here, until he had built a house. He 
has a comfortable frame dwelling on an ex- 
tensive farm of 200 acres, 125 acres of which 
are under cultivation, and is justly rated as 
one of the nujst substantial farmers in the 
western part of the county. 

'Sir. Floten was married in f)ctober, 1871, 
to Miss Carrie Dahl, a daughter of Ole and 



Betsey Dahl, and they have been blessed 
with the following children — Betsey, Susan. 
Anna, T\rary, Anna, Caroline and Josejihine. 
Our subject has held the ottice of supervisor 
for two years, and is a representative man nf 
his townshi]). 



^lli^HOMAS CALLAGHAN, a hospitable, 
Jl[/ enterpi-ising and successful farmer 
and stock-raiser residing on section 18, HofF 
township, is a native of County Cork, 
Ireland, and was Ix.rn May 20, 1823. His 
])arents, who were Owen and Margaret 
(Bradley) Callaghan, were also natives of the 
"Emerald Isle," and remained there until 
the time of their death. The father was a 
weaver and a farmer. They were the par- 
ents of nine children — Margaret, Thomas, 
John, Michael, Eugene, Julia, Kate, Mary, 
and one whose name our subject docs not 
remember. 

Our subject, Thomas, Callaghan, spent his 
school days in his native parish in Trelaiul 
and tlien engaged in farming with his fatiier 
for one year. After this he worked at vari- 
ous occupations until lS.i2, when he sailed 
for the Fnited States, and, after a five weeks' 
voyage, landed in New York City. For 
seven years then he was located in Glens 
Falls, New York. After this he worked in 
various portions of the United States, trav- 
eling about a great deal and seeing various 
parts of the countr\', working meanwhile in 
Maine, Connecticut and Illinois. In 1869 he 
came to Minnesota, and for seven years lived 
at ^rinnea]>olis, engaged in grading streets 
and other labor. In 1876 he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and located in Iloff 
township, where he still resides. He took 
up a homestead and tree claim, and now 
owns 320 acres of excellent land, a good 
share of which is under a high state of culti- 
vation. He devotes a good share of his at- 



i84 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



tention to raising graded and blooded stock, 
and has a fine lot of graded stock, including 
one full-blooded Durham animal, which is 
one of the finest in the county. 

]\Ir. Callaghan was mai-ried, March 27, 
1853. to Miss Margaret Callaghan, a native 
of Ireland, and a daughter of Colonel Callag- 
han. They are the parents of eight chil- 
dren — Eugene, Peter, Jerry. Margaret, John, 
Tliomas, Mary and Cathei'ine. Peter, Mar- 
garet and John are married. Marv finished 
her education at the Academy of the Holy 
Angel, in Minneapolis, in ISsl, and since 
1882 has been engaged in teaching school 
in Stevens and Swift counties. Margaret 
graduated from the Academy at Minneapo- 
lis, and for four years was a teacher in St. 
Joseph's Academy, St. Paul. She is now 
the wife of Amlrew Deneen, a merchant of 
New Richmond, Wisconsin. Thomas F. 
graduated at the St. Paul Business College, 
March 13, 1888, and is now engaged in the 
wholesale Ijusiness at St. Paul. 

Mr. Callaghan, in political matters, is in- 
dependent of party lines. He is a man of 
the strictest integrity, and is one of the lead- 
ing citizens of the locality in which lie lives. 
The family ai'e exemplary members of the 
Catholic Church. 



-e— ; 



«^^ 



James cook, the subject of the pres- 
^ ent sketch, is an influential and well-to-do 
farmer, residing in Bangor townshi]), on sec- 
tion 6. lie was born in the western part of 
Canada, July 20, 1855, and is a son of James 
and Mary Atkinson, who were natives of 
Scotland, and who were married in Canada. 
Mi'S. Atkinson is at present living with her 
son, Thomas Cook, in Wisconsin, and is 
fifty-two years of age. The father died in 
1875. He was a man who took an active 
interest in all township matters, and was 
highly esteemed by all who knew him. He, 



with his wife, were exemplary members 
of the Methodist Church. He was i-aised a 
farmer, in which occupation he was engnged 
until the time of his death. Our subject 
had the following brothers and sisters — 
Andrew, Martha, Elizabeth, James, Jennie, 
Th(mias, Jessie, and the twins, Joseph and 
John, all of whom are living except Eliza- 
l)etli. Elizabeth was married to a Mi-. Fern, 
a miller. The sad event of her death oc- 
curred in 1877. Siie left two children — Allen 
and Baby. 

James Cook spent his school da3's in Can- 
ada, "Wisconsin and Minnesota. After fin- 
ishing .school he worked in the pineries dur- 
ins; the winters, and throuoh the summers 
was engaged in farming. The subject of 
this biography is a man who takes an active 
interest in all ])ublic matters, and is a repub- 
lican in bis political affiliations. 

Mr. Cook was united in marriage May 23, 
1886, to Miss Martha Ilildretli. She was 
born in Little Falls, Minnesota, and is a 
daughter of George Hildieth. She was 
educated in Glenwood, Minnesota. She died 
May 11, 1887, and was buried in Grove Lake 
cemetery. ]\Irs. Cook was an active member 
of the Methodist Chui-ch, and was a woman 
beloved bv all who knew her. 



JTOHN JEFFERS. whoisa suljstantial fai in- 
^ er. living on section 5, township 125. 
range 3<;, is a native of Irelami, born June 
11, 1835, in Wexford county. He is a son of 
John and Mary (Linch) Jeffers. His father 
was a scliool teacher, and followed that hon- 
orable profession until his death, in 1847. 
The mother died in 1865, but spent the latter 
years of her life in America, coming to this 
country in 1858, and living in Rice county. 
She was buried at Northfield. The family 
consisted of five sons — Michael, Edward, 
John, Patrick and Thomas. Edward be- 



rOTE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



185 



longed to the British army and died in the 
East India service. 

Jolin Jeffers, of whom this slcetcli will 
speak particularly, remained at home until 
he came to America, in 1852. He was reared 
as a butclier. but upon coming to this country 
engaged in farm pursuits, near Itipon, Wis- 
consin, after first stopping three weeks in 
Albany, New York, lie remained on the 
farm two years, and then, with his brother 
Micliael and family, settled on land in Rice 
county, Minnesota, at the town of Nortlifield, 
wiuM'o he remained until ISOl, and then of- 
fered his time to the country he had sworn 
to support and defend. He enlisted that 
year in the First ilinnesota Cavali'v. at Fort 
ynelHng, and wassoon sent South and joined 
by what wasknown as the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, 
which was, in fact, a regiment made up from 
men of various States. At iiistoric Fort 
Donelson he was wounded in the leg, and 
at Sugar Creek. Alaljama, received a sabi'e 
cut on the hand. In 1SG3 he reenlisted in 
ills old company and I'egiment, serving a little 
less than three years, his discharge dating 
May. IStit). After his rei'nlistment he was 
eny-ajred in liohtinj'- Indians west of the Mis- 
souri River, during which service he was 
thrown from his saddle and sustained seri- 
ous injuries. He was first a corporal, and 
under his second enlistment was made ser- 
geant. While a soldier at St. Peter, ]\Iin- 
nesota, he became acc^uainted with his wife. 
Miss Margaret Cheeney, and was maii'ied to 
her July 13, 1800. She was a native of 
Canada, and came to the States with her 
parents in cliildiiood. Sliortly aftei- tiieir 
marriage Mi', and Mrs. JellVrs moved to 
I'ope county and took up the homestead upon 
whic-ii tiiev now live. II is homestead, to- 
getiier witli the additional forty acres which 
lie entered as Govei'iiment land, made him a 
fai-m of 200 acres. 

He fii-st built a log house 12x16 feet in 
size, and tiien commenceil turning over the 



native sod, hitherto undisturbed by the em- 
blematic plow of civilization, llealso fenced 
his land in the best manner of any place in 
his section of the country, the material com- 
ing from a tamarack swamp, bordering upon 
his farm. lie remained in the pioneer cabin 
of logs, in which all his children were born, 
until 1886, when he built one of the best 
farm houses in the to^Aiiship. He also has 
])rovided himself with excellent outbuild- 
ings and other improvements, which make 
the farm one of much value. He has a fam- 
il)' of seven children — Theresa, the eldest 
daughter, is now attending college at ^Minne- 
apolis; Robert E., John, Christopiier, Ed- 
mund, Jessie and Paul E. 

Mr. Jell'ers is a man of mai-ked and varied 
experience, and withal one who has made the 
most of every event of his life. He is a 
staunch republican, and is a member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, of wiiich he is 
post commander. He is also a worthy 
member and treasurer of the Masonic fra,- 
ternity and master workman of the lodge 
of Ancient Order of United Workmen. His 
family are consistent members bi the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

Mr. Jeffers has always taken an active 
interest and jirominent part in all jjuljlic and 
educational alfairs, and his name has been 
prominently identified with the official his- 
tory of the county. He has held various 
official positions during his many years ()f 
residence here, and at the present writing is 
a member of the boai'd of county commis- 
sioners of Pope county. 



..i^ 



BAVID W. GRANT, of (ilenwood, is a 
member of the firm of Grant Brotii- 
ers, one of the heaviest mercantile firms in 
the county. He is a native of Ottawa, Wau- 
kesha county, Wisconsin, where he was born 
March 26, 1852, and is a son of Peter and 



iS6 



POPE COUNTY, MINKF.SOTA. 



Grace (McPherson) Grant. His parents 
were natives of Scotland, and were married 
in their native land. At an early day, in 
1840, they came to the United States and set- 
tled at Caledonia, New York, where the 
father, who was a stone mason, followed his 
trade. In 1843 Peter Grant removed with 
his family to Ottawa, Wisconsin, where he 
Avorked some at his trade, and also engaged 
extensively in farming. The parents re- 
mained there until the time of their death, 
the father dying August 25, 1866, the mother 
Januaiy 20, 18S3. They were members of 
the IJajJtist Church, and for many yeai'S the 
father was a deacon in that organization. 
Peter Grant was a man of jn'ominence in the 
localit}' in which he lived. He came of that 
sturdy, determined Scotch race which has 
made the best citizens in the population of 
Minnesota and AVisconsin, a race proverbial 
for their integrity, industry, economy and 
genial, hospitable temj^erament, for it is an 
old and true saying that " no man goes hun- 
gry from a Scotchman's door." Peter Grant 
and his wife had a familv of four daughters 
and four sons. The daughters are all de- 
ceased. The sons are living, and bear the 
following names — James D., Alexander J., 
Daniel L. and David W. 

David W. Grant, the subject of our present 
article, spent his early boyhood upon the 
home farm and in attending school. He 
then supplemented his earlier education with 
two terms in j\Iilton College, in Rock county, 
Wisconsin, beginning in 1869. At the ex- 
])i ration of this time he spent two years in 
clerking for his brother at Palmyra. Wiscon- 
sin. We next find him on Si>ring River, in 
Arkansas, where he ran a railway supply 
store for eight months, after which he re- 
turned to his AVisconsin home, and for a year 
was laid up with malarial fever and ague. 
Upon his recovery he purchased a half inter- 
est in a general merchandise store at Dous- 
man. AVaukesha countv, AVisconsin, where 



be continued in business for three j^ears and 
a half. He then decided to come West, and 
in 1887 located in Pope county, Minnesota, 
engaging with his brother, Daniel L., in the 
general mercantile trade at Glen wood. They 
are still in trade, carrying as large a stock as 
any firm in the county, and by fair dealing 
have built up an extensive business. 

D. W. Grant was married March 5, 188-4, 
to Miss Alice B. Coburn, a native of AVhite- 
water. AA'isconsin, and a daughter of Freder- 
ick and Ludema (Rice) Coburn. 

Daniel L. Gkaxt, the senior member of 
the firm of Grant Brothers, was born at Ot- 
tawa, Wisconsin, ou the 19th of October, 
1840. As he apiiroached manhood he lived 
for one year in Chicago, and then for nine 
}'ears made his liome in Kansas City. In 
1887, as above stated, he came to Pope 
count}', Minnesota, and, in company with 
his brother, David AV., established the gen- 
eral mercantile business which they still con- 
duct. 

D. L. Grant was married February 15, 
1885, to Miss Mamie Donnelly, and they are 
the parents of one child, named Alexander 
L. Mr. Grant is a man of wide information 
and extensive business experience, and, aided 
by his brother, the firm has built U]i an ex- 
tensive trade. 



l'-^- 



OHN PEACOCK, a member of the board 



^' of county commissioners, and one of the 
most prominent and influential farmers in 
Po])e county, resides on section 25, Reno 
township. He was born in Little York, now 
a part of the city of Toronto, Canada, in 
February, 1832, and is a son of John and 
Rebecca (Cunningham) Peacock. The ])ar- 
ents were both natives of Ireland, who had 
come to Canada in their youth and were 
mai-ried there. The father was a coojier b}' 
trade, but followed farming during the 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



1S7 



greater jnirt of his life. Both are now dead; 
the father died in Canada, about lS4-t, and 
the mother died in Po])e comity. May 1. 
18S0. They had a family of the following 
children— Elizabeth J.. John, James, George, 
AVilliam. Joseph. IJobert. >rargaret and 
Andrew, and one named William, who died 
in infancy. Margaret became the wife of 
Kobert Wilson, and died January U, 1888, 
leaving a large family. Of the remaining 
children of John reacock, Sr.. and wife — 
two are in Canada, one in Michigan and the 
rest are in Pope county, Minnesota. 

John Peacock, the subject of our present 
sketch, received his education in Canada, at- 
tending school until he was twelve years of 
aii-e. but. as his father died at al)ont this time, 
his school days were shortened. After leaving 
school he aided his mother in the labor of 
carrying on the farm. When he was about 
twenty-five years of age he began life on 
his own account, and in 1858 was married to 
Mary Ann Drury, a native of Ireland. He 
followed farming in Canada foi' three years, 
and then removed with his familv to North- 
ern Michigan, where he was engaged in 
farming and lumbering for five years. He 
had the misfortune to lose his wife there by 
death. He then removed l)ack to Canada 
and remained thei'C until March, 1866, when 
he came to Pope county, Minnesota, and took 
a homestead of 160 acres on section 25, Reno 
township, where he has lived ever since. 
He now has one of the most valuable farms 
in the township, compi'ising.3'20 acres, agood 
share of wliicli is under a high state of cul- 
tivatiiin. and there devotes his attention to 
stock-raising and general fai'ming. 

Py his first wife Mr. Peacock became the 
fatlier of the following children — Rebecca 
Ann, Margaret, Elizabeth Jane and Robert 
(ileceased). All of the living children are 
married. Robert died in infancy. 

Mr. Peacock was married to his present 
wife on the 2nd of Januarv, 1880. She was 



Anna Bryce, a native of Canada, born in 
April, 1851, and a daughter of AV'illiam and 
]\Iai-ia (Christilaw) I'l'vce. Bv this marria<'-e 
Mr. and TMrs. Peacock are the parinits of five 
living children — Melissa, John Robert, Minnie 
Eveline, Birdie ifay and William Henry. 
The family are exemplary mendjers of the 
Episcopal Chui-ch, Mr. Peacock being treas- 
urer of that organization. 

In political matters our .subject is a prohi- 
bitionist, lie has always taken an active 
and prominent part in all ])ublic matters 
and educational affairs. He has held a great 
many of the local offices, and in 1886 was 
elected county commissioner of this district, 
and his name is pi'ominently identified with 
the official history of both the town and 
county. 

#EORGE FREDERICK TAPLIN, one 
of the most jirominent, enterpris- 
ing and intelligent farmers in Walden 
township, resides on section 26. He was 
born in Boston, Massachusetts, November 
22, 1852, and is the son of George and 
Margaret (Gill) Taplin, both residents of 
Boston, where his father was engaged in the 
commission and i)rovision business. 

At an early age our subject acquired his 
education in the excellent schools of the city 
of his birth. After finishing school he 
clerked in a store until he was twentj'^-one, 
and in 1873 he came to Walden township, 
Pope county, ifinnesota, and bought land on 
section 22, on which he lived for two vears. 
He then took up a homestead on .section 26, 
his present phice of residence. Since tiien 
he has bought forty acres of additional land, 
and also has a tree claim. He has one of 
the most beautiful farms in the township 
and a comfortable house and grove of his 
own ))lanting. His farm lies on the shore of 
Lake Emily, and the general apjiearance of 



rS8 



POPE COUiVTY, M/XXF.SOTA. 



the place, in thrift and high state of tillage, 
bespeaks the energy and enterprise character- 
istic of its proi)rietor. 

On January 8, 1S7G, Mv. Taplin was 
married to Ehiiira Phinney, of Boston, who 
came out iiere, met "Mr. Taplin, and married 
him at AViUmar, IVlinnesota. Their union 
lias been blessed with two children — Frank 
Evarts, boi'n December 20, 1S76, and Richard 
I'hinney, born February 5, ISTS, and died 
June 2, 1883. 

Our subject is an excellent businessman, 
and one of the most prosperous farmers of 
his township. lie has hekl numerous offices 
in the township, such as town clerk and 
justice of the peace, and during liis entire 
resilience here has been a member of the 
school board. In politics Mr. Taplin is a 
re]ml)licaii. with proliilMtion tendencies. 



«^- 



^ M ^XEL G. ENGLUND is one of the most 
i^^V ])rominent, capable and enterprising- 
business men in Starbuck, where he carries 
on the agricultural implement trade. He is a 
native of Sweden, born September 15, 1860, 
and is a son of Xels and Maria C. (Stomberg) 
Englund. His father was a farmer, distiller 
and nranufacturer of and dealer in woolen 
o-oods in the old country. Ilis father had 
a family, all told, of twenty cliildren, eight 
by his first and twelve by his second wife, 
our subject being the tenth child of the 
second wife. Two of the first family and 
three of the .second came to the United 
States. Adolph F., a half brother of Axel, 
was for some time in business at Glen wood, 
and later was engaged in the general mer- 
chandise business, and became postmaster at 
Hancock, Stevens county, where he died in 
1883. 

Our subject was raised upon a farm in the 
land of his birth, and at the early age of 
twelve years he was thrown upon his own 



resources, so that since that time he has made 
his own way in the w'orld. lie remained in 
his native kingdom until he was nineteen 
\'ears of age. when, on the Ttli of June, 1870, 
he sailed for America, landing in (Quebec, 
and proceeded at once to Hancock, Minne- 
sota, where he arrived on the 23d of the 
same month. For a time he was engaoed on 
a farm, and then secured a position as engi- 
neer in an elevator, which he retained for 
two years. At the expiration of that time 
he secured a position as clerk in the general 
store of C. C. Emerson, where he remained 
for one year. In the fall of 1883 he came 
to Starljuck, and, during the following year, 
established his present business, putting in a 
full line of farm machinery. He now car- 
ries one of the most complete stocks in the 
county, inchuHng threshing machines, Deer- 
ing. Champion, Osborn, Winona and Buck- 
eye binders and mowers. Monitor seeders, 
plows, wagons, buggies, repair supplies, and 
in fact everything of that nature. He is 
also engaged in buying and selling stock, 
anil, as he is a man of tlie strictest integrit\' 
and a careful business nnm, he is building 
up an extensive trade. 

Mr. Englund was married, in 1884, to Miss 
Jennie Nelson, of Wisconsin, and their union 
has been blessed by the advent of two chil- 
dren — Carl J. and Mabel J. 



-H^ 



«^^ 



^III^HOMAS G. McNUTT, formerly a banker 
yli7 and merchant at Glenwood, where he 
still lives, is one of the most prominent, in- 
fluential and highly respected old settlers in 
Poj)e county. He is a native of Nova Scotia, 
born July 14, 1841, and is a son of John and 
Celia E. (Morse) McNutt, natives of the same 
province. The father, John McNutt, was a 
contractor and builder. In 1845 the family 
removed to Maine, where the father engaged 
in ship building, taking contracts and doing 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



i8g 



an extensive business, running crews of from 
twenty-live to lift}' men. Tliev remained in 
Maine for eight years, when they went to 
Indiana, settling at Nobleville, Hamilton 
county, where the father i>ursued liis calling. 
In 1858 they came to Hastings. Dakota 
county. Minnesota, where the father followed 
his jjrofession until 1808, when he engaged 
in farm i tig near Castle Hock. In 1870 they 
came to I'ope county and settled at Grove 
Lake, and were among tiie earliest settlers 
of tliat townsiii]). There they began im- 
provements, setting out trees, breaking, 
building fences, etc., and erected a hewn 
log house, 18x28 feet in size, which is still 
standing. Tiiere the father lived until the 
time of his death in 1871. He had received 
an injury in a tiireshing machine during the 
previous year which eventually caused his 
death. He and iiis wife had a family of 
eight children, four of wiiom are now livintr — 
^Irs. C T. Strannehan, Mrs. E. S. AVillson, 
Thomas G. and Mrs. J. G. Whittemore. 
John McNutt was a prominent factor in the 
early development of the eastern ]iart of the 
county. He was a rej)ul)lican, and iield a 
great many local offices. He and his wife 
were memi)ei's of the Presbyterian Cliurch, 
and he was a deacon in tiiat oi'gani/.ation for 
numv vears. A man of tlie strictest intes:- 
rity, of untiring energy, he was always busy, 
yet alwa\'s had time to aid in ever}' enter- 
prise of a public nature. 

Thomas G. ]\[cXutt. whose name heads 
our present sketch, sj)ent his younger days 
in school in Maine and Indiana. When sev- 
enteen years of age lie commenced to learn 
the printei-s" trade at Peoi'ia, Illinois, but did 
not serve out his full apprenticeship. In 
1859 he engaged in the photography business 
in Chicago, but after one year's experience 
at this he engaged as a cabin boy and stew- 
ard on a ^Mississippi Iliver steamboat, and 
followed tliat avocation for eighteen months. 
In the mean time, the war for the Union had 



begun, and in ls<i2 our subject enlisted in 
Company F, Eighth TMinnesota Iiifantrv, 
and went into the service to follow a soldier's 
fortunes until the close of the war. During 
the fii"st season he was with General Sullv's 
expedition against the Indians through the 
Northwest, and went as far as the " Bad 
Lands" of Montana, participating in a num- 
ber of fights and skirmishes with the red- 
skins. After this expedition, our subject re- 
turned to Fort Snelling with his regiment, 
and they were ordered South and went to 
the front. He ])articipated in the battle of 
the Cedars, and also at Kingston, Rile}' and 
other engagements and skirmishes in North 
Carolina, they having been assigned to the 
Twenty -third Army Corps under General 
Schofield. After the close of the war Mr. 
McNutt was honorably discharged, anil pro- 
ceeded to his father's, at Castle Eock, Dakota 
county, Minnesota, and for about five years 
remained there in charge of the home farm. 
In 1870 he came with his parents to Grove 
Lake, Pope county, and remained on the 
homestead until 1872, when he was married 
to Miss Josephine Beach, and began farming 
on his own account. His efforts were well 
directed, and his management successful, and 
he was soon one of the most extensive general 
farmers and stock-raisers in the county. He 
continued in this Imsiness until 1S7<'>, when 
he removed to Glenwood and engaged in the 
mercantile business with J. G. Whittemore, 
afterward including i)anking. This was con- 
tinued until the present summer, when the 
business was closed out, and Mr. McNutt re- 
tired from the active cares of business. He 
has always taken an active interest in all 
public mattei-s, and was for many years 
chairman of the town board in Grove Lake. 
He is a republican in political matters, and a 
member of the Grand Army of the Ke|)ublic. 
Mr. and Mrs. McNutt are the parents of 
four children — (Tertrude. John (i., P(\irl and 
Lucv. 



I go 



POPE COUiVTY, MIXXESOTA 



Mrs. McXutt is a native of Xew York, and 
a daughter of Lewis and Pliebe (Lovell) 
I'eacli. natives of Tompkins county, Xew 
Yorlc. Her fatiier was a carpenter by trade, 
and followed that occupation in his native 
State until ls5ii, when he came AVest and 
settled near Belle Plaine, Scott county, ilin- 
nesota, where he engaged in farming. In 
1S70 the family i-emoved to Pope county, 
and settled upon a farm in Grove Lake town- 
ship, where the father died, in 1885. Mr. and 
Mrs. Beach had a family of three children, 
two of whom, Mrs. Josephine McNutt and 
Walter L.. are now living. 



lp\UDLEY D. DANFORTH, a resident of 
Jl^^ section 5, is one of the most highly 
respected citizens of Iloff township. A man 
of ripe vears, he has partially retired from 
the active cares of life, and is held in high 
esteem by all wholcnow iiim. The manage- 
ment of thefarnihas devolved ui)on Mr. Dan- 
fcjrth's son, IJenjaniin F., who is recognized 
as one of the most enterprising and suc- 
cessful agriculturists in that })art of the 
county. 

Dudley D. Danforth was born in Penobscot 
county, Maine, October 26, ISO", and is a 
son of Xathaniel and Anna (Doe) Danforth, 
natives, respectively, of New Hampshire and 
Maine. His fatiier was a farmer and lum- 
l)erman, and was the parent of nine children, 
three boys and six girls, our subject being 
the fifth born. Our subject received a prac- 
tical education in his native State, and upon 
starting out in life for himself engaged in 
farming. Later he was engaged in the 
lumber trade in Maine, which he followed 
for nearl\^ thirty years. In ISo-i he came 
West and located at Prescott, Wisconsin, 
where he remained for twenty-three years, 
carrying on farming and stock-raising. In 



1877 he removed to Pope county, Minnesota, 
and settled ujion 160 acres of railroad land on 
section 5, Hoff township, where he has since 
lived. lie now owns about 2d0 acres of tine 
land, a "ood share of which is under a hio-h 
state of cultivation. 

Our subject was married on the 22tl of 
April. 1841. at Argyle, Maine, to Miss Maria 
Comstock. She was a daughter of Solomon 
Comstock, and was liorri at Argyle, Maine, 
April 2, 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth are 
the parents of four living childi'en — I\[ai'ia 
Josephine, now Mrs. Jack Wilson; Matilda 
v., now ]\Irs. Frank Wilcox ; Benjamin 
Franklin and Luc}'. 

Ben.iamin Franklin Daxfokth was Ijorn 
at Oak Grove, Pierce count\', Wisconsin, 
September 18, 1859. lie grew to manhood 
at Prescott, Wisconsin, and received his ed- 
ucation at the excellent common schools of 
the '* Badger State." In 18T7 became with 
his parents to Minnesota, and lias since been 
a resident of Pope county. During late 
years he has had the full control of the farm, 
and is an excellent business manager. He is 
independent in political matters, ami is the 
present treasurer of the school district in 
which he lives. 



^J-3t;i\'CHAEL ERICKSON HELLAND, a 
ic\.iT%. pros])erous farmer, located on sec- 
tion 1, in Barsness townsliip, is an xVmerican 
by birth. He was born in Dane county, 
Wisconsin, in September, 185i, where he re- 
mained until he was twenty-one \'ears of age. 
AVhile there, by strict economy and energy, 
he managed to give himself a fair education, 
goino- to school winters and workins: dur- 
ing the summers. After leaving Wisconsin, 
at the age of twenty-one, he came to Pope 
count}^, Minnesota, and settled on a farm, 
which his father had boug-ht for him eight 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



191 



years before, wliere Micliael is at present re- 
siding. Dining tiie year ISSO he was lo- 
cated in tiie village of Starbuck, engaged in 
the hardware, lumber and farm-machinery 
trade, l)ut. not likingthe business, he returned 
to his farm, lie is now engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising, at which he lias 
been (juite successful. He has a substantial 
herd of cattle and horses, which he has ac- 
cumulated, and has one of the most desira- 
ble farms, of 150 acres, in the county, 100 
acres being under cultivation. 

His ]>arents, Erick and Segra (Hendrick- 
son) Michaelson, are natives of "Norway, and 
are now residing in Wisconsin. His fathers 
aire is (iftv-eiiiht and his mother's sixtv. 
Our subject has four brothers and two sisters, 
all of whom are living in Wisconsin. His 
brothers, Kdward and Anton, are engaged in 
the mercantile business, and all are single 
except Edward, who is married to Lena 
Johnson. His brothers, Henry and George, 
are farmers in Wisconsin. 

Mr. Helland was married, November 24, 
1S75, to Isabelle Ivnuteson, a daughter of 
Knute Knuteson Ilevered and Vliwy Tosten- 
son Ilippe. Six children have been born to 
them — Even, Sophia, Mary, Henry, Ida and 
Selma. 

Mrs. Helland's parents are living in Pope 
county, and she has seven sisters and one 
brother residing in Pope county, all of whom 
are single except Jessie, who mai'ried James 
S. Darkes, of Glenw^ood, and Mary, who 
married Peter Leasoii, and is living in 
Langhci townshi]). 

Mr. Helland is a prominent and respected 
citizen of the county, and has held numer- 
ous official positions in his township, such as 
chairman of the supervisoi-s, assessor and 
school clerk and, wiiile in Starbuck, was 
president of village board, etc. He, with his 
relatives, are exemplary members of the Nor- 
wegian Lutheran Church. In political niat- 
tere he is a rci)ublican. 



ij;>< ENNETH McKENZlE, one of the oldest 
IE-i\^ and most influential citizens of Ben 
Wade township, resides on sections 13 and 
24. He was born in Southern Shire, Scot- 
land, November 1.5, ISljf!, and is a son of 
Duncan and Arabella (McKenzie) McKenzie. 
He lived at home on the farm until he was 
twenty-one years of age, when he bought a 
farm and worked on it until 1868. Immi- 
grating to the United States, he came direct 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a home- 
stead on sections 13 and 24, Ben Wade town- 
ship, where he has since lived. Mr. McKenzie 
has a farm of 290 acres, and is a respected 
and prosj)erous farmc^r. He has held numer- 
ous offices in the township. He is an exem- 
])lai'y member of the Presbyterian Church, 
liaving been a deacon in that organization 
for a number of years. In political matters 
our subject is a prohibitionist. 

The subject of this sketch was married 
March 11, 1863, to Miss Agness Scott, a 
daughter of William and Agness Scott, and 
their union has been blessed with the fol- 
lowing children — William, Agnes, Duncan, 
John, Henrietta, Jane, Arabella. Elizabeth, 
Jesse, Kenneth and Ethel, all of whom are 



living. 



— «•- 



-.^►. 



^|kATHIAS MONSON, a prosperous and 
JT^tr^ highly esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, is a resident of section 4, Lake 
Johanna townshi|). He is a native of Noi'- 
way, burn June 2(>. 1844, and is a son of 
Muns and Karn Jensdatter, who were na- 
tives of the same kingdom. Our suljject 
has the following brothei-s and sisters — 
John. Gustoff, Otto. Bertie. Oleva, Cena. 
Matt, Caroline and Carl. The last two are 
deceased. At the age of seventeen years, 
our subject linished his education, and, after 
remaining at home for three years, he went 
to Christiania. He engaged in farming near 



I92 



POPE COUXTY, M/.VA'ESOr.l. 



that place for the next five years, and in 1866 
he came to the United States. After land- 
ing in Quebec, Canada, he went to La Crosse, 
Wisconsin, where he remained on a farm for 
one year. In tiie si)ring of 1868, he moved 
to Fillmore county, Minnesota, and, after 
living there one year, went to Freeborn 
county, Minnesota. He i-emained there for 
a period of three years, when he moved to 
Tope county, Minnesota, and settled on his 
present claim. His parents are still residing 
in Freeborn county, Minnesota. 

Our subject was married, December 29, 
1866, to Miss Martha Simonsdatter, a native 
of Norway. They have been blessed with 
the following children — Samuel, Karl, 
Bertie, Julius and ilartin — all of whom are 
single and living at home with their parents. 
The subject of this sketch is a man of the 
strictest honor and integrity, and is highl}' 
esteemed by all who know him. He has 
held the offices of assessor, supervisor, school 
director, etc. He and his family are 
exemplary meinbers of the Lutheran Church, 
of which oi-ganization he is a trustee. 

In political matters Mr. Monson affiliates 
with the republican party. He is in com- 
fortable circumstances financial!}', and has a 
farm of 200 acres, with 115 acres under culti- 
vation. He carries on farming and stock- 
raising extensively, and is regarded as one of 
the most successful and substantial farmers 
in the southern portion of the county. 



^iljI^HOMAS E. THOMPSON, tiie subject 
\JJ of the i^resent sketch, is classed among 
the [irosperous and well-to-do citizens of 
Pope county. He is a resident of section 6, 
Blue JIouiul township, where he has an ex- 
tensive farm of 24(i acres, with comfortable 
building improvements. He was l)oi'n in 
Bergen Stiff, Norway, July 14. 184.5, and is 
a son of Ingebrit and Oleva (Oleson) Thomp- 



son, who were also natives of that kingdom. 
They came to the United States in 1862, and 
after landing in Quebec, Canada, they came 
to Dane county, Wisconsin, whei'e thej' re- 
mained for six years, and then came to Pope 
county, settling on section 13, Blue Mound 
township. Our subject received his educa- 
tion in Norway and Wisconsin, and from the 
time of his parents' settling in Wisconsin he 
made his own way in the world. 

Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Mar}' 
Brevig, April 2, 1873. She is a native of 
Norway, and is the daughter of Lars Brevig. 
Our subject and wife are members of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, of which he 
has been a trustee for six years, also deacon 
for one year. He takes an active interest in 
all public matters, and has held the follow- 
ing offices: Township clerk, school clerk, 
sujiervisor and assessor. He has usually been 
a delegate to the republican county conven- 
tions, and is an active worker in all official 
and public matters. 

By their marriage they have been blessed 
with one child, Edwin, born May 21, 1878. 
Mr. Thompson was the second settler in his 
townshi]!, and was the one who got up the 
petition to organize it, naming it from his 
old township in Wisconsin. He now is in 
very comfortable circumstances, and has a 
neat house nestled in a dense grove of trees 
of his own planting. 



^^WEN ANDERSON, the subject of the 
'^^S) present article, is a thrifty and es- 
teemed citizen of Langhei townshi]i, residing 
on section 12. He was born in Norway, at 
Aurdal, Api'il 30, 1863. and is a son of An- 
drew and ]\[aret (Swenson^ Engeliretson, who 
were mari'ied in their native land, Noi-way, 
and C:une to the United States in 1866. 
They landed in (Quebec, Canada, and then 
settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they 



rOPE COUNTY, A/IJVjVESOTA. 



193 



lived one year. Tliey then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, where they have since 
remained. 

The father lias a]\va\'s been engaged in 
the occupation of fanning, and at present is 
a respected '"tiller of the soil" in Langhei 
township. 

The school days of our subject were spent 
in his present locality, and after those happy 
days were over he engaged in farming. 

Mr. Anderson was joined in the holy 
bonds of marriage. June 6, 18^3, to Miss 
Mary Johnson, and they have been blessed 
with two children — Ida and .\lbert. She 
was born in Allamakee c(»unty, Iowa, Octo- 
ber T, 186(1, and is a daughter of John and 
Ingebar (Larson) Olson, who came to the 
United States in 1S55 and settled in Iowa, 
where the father is still engaged in farming. 
She is the youngest of six children — John, 
Lewis, Bornt, Eliza, Martha and Mary. 

Mr. Anderson is one of the most promi- 
nent and reliable farmers of the county. 
He has held the following offices — postmas- 
ter, constable, school director, etc., etc. He 
is a member of the Lutheran Church, as are 
his family. In political matters our subject 
is a staunch republican. 



^^EORGE B. COBURN, who resides at 
\^ Chippewa Falls. Pope county, Minne- 
sota, was born in Sheffield county. Canada, 
^laich 2<j, 1849. He is the son of Honora- 
ble George and Eliza iHowh Coburn, who 
were natives of Ireland, but came to Canada 
about ls2."). the father having learned the 
trade of a tailor in his native country and 
followed the .sanu' throughout his life. He 
was a real estate owner, but never labored 
u|ion the farm. He was atone time a member 
of the British rarliament, and was a man of 
much prominence; he died in ISSl, and his 
widow now lives with her children in Trav- 



erse county, Minnesota. They had a familj' 
of twelve children, nine of whom are still liv- 
ing — John, George, Mary A., Eliza, James, 
Betsey, Pattie, George B., Charlotte and 
Mariaim, the last two named being twins, 
also Albert and Emily twins. George, Al- 
bert and Emily are now deceased. 

Our subject spent his younger days at 
school in Canada. He then did farm labor 
for' three summers, and at the age of thirteen 
he commenced to learn the trade of black- 
smith, serving four months, after which he 
retui-ne<l home I'oi- a few months, then again 
took up his chosen trade, working one 3'ear, 
then left for St. Albans, Vermont, whei-e 
he worked in a railroad shop at his trade 
one year. In ISfiS he was fireman and 
brakeman on the raili'oad, and from there he 
went to White liiver Junction, ^"el■mont, 
and there worked at farm labor three 
months. Next he went to Manchester, New 
Hampshire, and worked in a cotton factory 
six years as assistant of the over.seer. Then 
he worked one year at Fitchburgh, Massa- 
chusetts, in a machine shop, and then re- 
turned to Manchester and engaged in the 
cotton mills, remaining one year. In 1871 
he came to Minnesota, settling at P)enson, 
and with D. M. Tenney built a blacksmith 
shop, which they operated eight months. In 
the same year he came to Pope countv and 
settled where he now lives. He l)uilt an- 
other blacksmith shop, and still runs the 
same. He iilso built a hotel at Chippewa 
Falls. o])erating the same for nine yeare ; it 
was the first one built in the place. He 
bought a farm of 102 acres, on sections 21 
and 28, also forty acres on section 33. 

In 1872 Mr. Coburn married Miss Alma R. 
Heath, daughter of John and Sophia (Gold) 
Heath, natives of ^'ermont. Her parents 
were extensive farmersof the Green Mountain 
State. Their family consisted of eight chil- 
dren, five of whom are now living — Alma R., 
now Mrs. Coburn ; Ella, now Mrs. Jewell ; 



194 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



Man', now Mrs. Densmo7"e; James and 
Charles. Mr. Colnirn has a family of five 
children— Pattie S.. EllaE., George D., Ethel 
R. and John. Politically, Mr. Ooburn is a 
republican, and has been honored and trusted 
by his neighbors with the office of justice of 
the peace for ten years ; was chairman of 
the board of supervisors for a number of 
years, also townshiji clerk and road overseer- 
He belongs to the Odd Fellows' fraternity, 
in which he is an honored brother, and is a 
member of the Episcopal Church. He is 
truly known as a representative man of his 
town and county, making good the saying 
"blood will tell," for the Heath and Gold 
families, as well as the Coburn family, were 
all of good birth and parentage. 

In 1872 D. M. Tenney, with Mr. Coburn's 
wife and sister, started out west, where they 
had taken a claim, in Big Stone count}', near 
OrtonviUe. When at Artichoke Lake a 
heavy snow blizzard overtook them, and from 
Saturday evening until Monda}' night, they 
had neither shelter nor food. Mr. Tenney 
had l)oth feet frozen so badly they had to be 
amputated. The ladies were very badly 
chilled but not frozen. This storm was the 
long-tobe-rememljered one of 1ST2. 

■ ■» > ■ ■S^^"»>— 

JM^ANS SUCKSTORFF, a prosperous 
J!r^ farmer and one of the most prominent 
citizens of the southwestern part of the 
county, is a resident of section 12, Gilchrist 
township. He was born in Norway, June 7, 
1844, and is a son of Christian Fredrick and 
Christiana Tomena (Jacobs) Suckstorff, who 
were natives of the same kingdom. When 
Hans was nine years of age his father died, and 
four years later his mother moved to this coun- 
try, settling in La Crosse, county, Wisconsin. 
There she took a preemption claim of eighty 
acres, and with her two sons cleared the 
farm, which was chiellv timber land. Mrs. 



Suckstorfif remained there until the summer 
of 1868, when she came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, where she has since lived with 
her son. Christian, in Gilchrist townshij). 

Hans, our ]>resent subject, made his home 
with his mother until shortly after the out- 
break of the Civil War, and then, on the 1st 
of January, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
B, Second Wisconsin cavahy, and was mus- 
tered into the service at Camp Washburne, 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served with his 
regiment all through the service, until No- 
vember 15, 1865, and participated in all 
their expeditions through Missouri, Arkansas, 
Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. 
After being mustered in the regiment was 
sent direct to St. Louis, where our subject 
was fitted out with supplies and a horse. 
For a few days they were stationed at Jef- 
ferson Cit\% Missouri, and then ordered to 
Helena, Arkansas, to guard a supply train of 
120 wagons, for General Curtis" army, which 
was then in the South. While at Helena,, 
which was really headquarters until the 
spring of 1S63, the command suffered the 
loss of a great manv men from fever and 
disease, and those who were so fortunate 
as to retain their health were obliged to do 
double duty. In the spring of 1863 the reg- 
iment was ordered to Memphis, and from 
there to Vicksburg, and participated in the 
siege of that place. After the surrender of 
Vicksburg the command with which our sub- 
ject was connected on July 4, 1864, started 
in pursuit of General Johnston, and upon 
their return from this ex})edition returned to 
Vicksburg. The following winter of 1863-64 
they were in camp at Red Bone church, 
some twelve miles from Vicksburg. In the 
spring of 1864 the regiment veteranized, and 
our subject came home on a " thirty day 
veteran furlough." He tlieii returned to 
Vicksburg, where he i-emained during most 
of the year i864. on scouting (luty. From 
there he went to Memphis, Tennessee, in the 



rorp. couxTY, nr/xxF.soT.i. 



195 



fall of 1S(U, and participated in Gi-ierson's 
famous raiil to cut off Hood in his retreat 
from Nashville ; and at Egypt Station they 
captured over 700 rebels, which they took to 
Vicksburg. From there they went to Mem- 
phis, and remained until after (ieneral Lee's 
surrender. In Jidy, 18(>5, they went to 
Alexandria, Louisiana, and fi'om there to 
Texas with General C'ustei'. They were 
mustered out in the fall of ISfiS at Austin, 
Texas, and after his discharge our subject 
at once returned to his mother's place in La 
Crosse county, Wisconsin. Pie renuuned there 
until the following spring of 186G, when he 
started for Pope county, ^[innes()ta, in com- 
pany with Ole Peterson, Ole Thorson and 
Thomas Thompson, coming overland with 
teams. They made their way directly to Gil- 
christ township, where all of the part\' except 
our subject selected claims and settled. Hans 
Suckstorif remained some three weeks, help- 
ing the others erect their cabins and get set- 
tled, after which he returned to Wisconsin. In 
the fall of 1866 he returned to Pope county, 
Minnesota, was married to Miss Lena Peter- 
son, and settled on his present farm of 160 
acres on section 12, Gilchrist township, where 
lie has since lived and carried on success- 
fullv the business of diversified farmino- and 
stock-raising. 

When Mr. Suckstorff canu; liere the settlers 
were obliged to undergo many disadvantages 
and hardships. The nearest raili-oad point 
was at St. Cloud, where thev were oblio-ed 
to go for groceries and provisions, and 
Paynesville, thirt^'-five miles away, was the 
nearest postoflice. There were onh' six set- 
tlers in what is now Gilchrist township. 
Times were very hard, money scarce, and 
no chance to secure work. Our subject at 
one time paid $25 dollars for a barrel of 
flour and at another sln.25 for a sack. Dur- 
ing the fall of 1866 Mr. Suckstorff, while out 
hunting. at one time saw two buffaloes near 
where the mill at Chij)pewa Falls now stands. 



Our subject has always taken an active 
and prominent part in all public and educa- 
tional matters, and his name is indissolublv 
connected with the official history of both 
town and county. Tie has held a great 
many of ilie local offices, and for one tei'm 
held the office of county commissioner for 
the district in which he lives. 

Mr. and Mi's. Suckstorff have but (me 
child, DorothaT., now Mrs. Ole I'. Peterson. 



-«>-; 



«»> 



Jj^ OSS SHAW came to Pope countv in 
-LmV l>'^'i6, first settling on sections 28 and 
33, Wcstport township, taking up a home- 
stead of 160 acres. He at once began to 
make his improvements. In all he now has 
280 acres of land, upon which he carries on 
grain and stock-raising. Mr. Shaw was 
among tlie very first settlers in the township. 
The precinct was organized in 1867. Mr. 
Sliaw was born in New Jersey, October 5, 
1838. He is the son of Aaron and Ellen 
Earclow, of New Jersey. The father was a 
miller by trade, following the same until his 
<leath, which occuri'etl when Ross was but 
six years of age. He was a faithful and act- 
ive Christian man, and a member, as well as 
elder, of the Presbyterian Church. Aaron 
Shaw, grandfather of our subject, came from 
Holland to this country. The grandfather 
of our subject, on the mother's side, was 
Cornelius Barclow, who was an officei- in the 
Mexican War. The mother of our subject is 
still living, at the advanced age of ninety-live 
years. She is a member of the Presby'terian 
Church. Their familj' consists of nine chil- 
dren, four boys and live girls (one died 
in infancy) — Eugene, Emily, Josephine, Wal- 
lace, Livingston. Aaron. Anna. Ellen and IJcr- 
linda. 

Our subject spent his school days in New 
Jersey. When eighteen years of age his first 
attemi)t at clerking was made, he going into 



196 



POPE COUNTY. MIAWESOTA. 



a drug store for a period of three years. In 
1802 he enlisted in the Eight\'-fifth Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry. lie went in July 17, 
18G2. as a private, and was honorably dis- 
charged in 1865 at ]S'asliville, Tennessee. 
He was in the battles of Perryville, Ken- 
tucky, Stone Kiver, Mission Tlidge, Kenne- 
saw Mountain. Itesaca and Nashville, Ten- 
nessee. After his discharge from the service 
he came to Pope county, ^linnesota. In 1868, 
durint!' tile month of Noveml)er, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Saraii Tuttle, who came from 
Wisconsin. By this union one child was 
born, Mattie, a teacher, now at home. 
The first wife died eighteen months after 
she was married. He was married to his 
second wife in 1869 ; she was a Miss Anna 
V. Conover, of New Jersey. 

Mr. Shaw is a republican in his political 
belief, and is an honored member of the Grand 
Army of the Ilepublic. Mrs. Shaw has one 
daughter, Nellie, who is also a teacher. 



^^NGEBRET NILSON, the subject of the 
\i^i present sketch, is an energetic and 
thrifty farmer, residing on section 34, Roll- 
ing Forks township. He was born in Wald- 
ers, Norway, June 23, 1832, and is a son of 
Nels Engebretson and Mary Olson, who were 
also natives of that kingdom. He lived 
with his parents on a large farm until 1865, 
wlien he came to the American continent, and 
remained in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, 
where he worked four years and a half, en- 
gaged at farming and carpenter work. Our 
subject then moved to Pojie county, Minne- 
sota, and took a homestead of 160 acres, on 
section 3-4, Eolling Forks township. When 
Mr. Nilson first came to this country, he 
took a trip into Minnesota as a land seeker, 
but hearing such bad reports concerning the 
Indians, he decided not to settle, and moved 
to La Crosse county. The grasshoppers de- 



stroyed his crops for two successive years, 
and the State loaned him eighty-two bushels 
of grain which he returned the following year. 
During one of the severe blizzards whicii he 
experienced his ox team ran away, and for 
three days he was out hunting them, finding 
only one, which he saved by covering it witli 
brush. 

Although Mr. Nilson has seen liard times, 
he now is in very comfortable circumstances, 
having a farm of 5C(i acres. 280 acres of 
which are under cultivation. Pie is a man 
highly esteemed bv all who know him, and 
has been prominent in township affairs, hav- 
ing been honored with the following offices : 
Chairman of supervisors, fifteen years ; school 
clerk ; school treasurer, six years, besides 
justice of the peace, and township treasurer. 
He with his famih* are exemplary members 
of the Lutheran church, of which organiza- 
tion our subject is a trustee. 

Mr, Nilson was married in March, 1859, to 
Miss Anna Thores, and this union has been 
blessed with the following cliildren — Nils E., 
Thore E., Ole E., Theodore E., Emma G., 
Sarah, Albert N., Adolphe I., Anna E. and 
Albert I. E. Thore, Albert N., AtIolj)iie and 
Anna are deceased. Our subject is a repub- 
lican in !iis political affiliations. 

f:)HN NORLIN, one of Pope county's 
most higldy respected citizens, is living 
on section 2, Nora township. He is a native 
of Sweden, born at Essperland, December 1, 
1839, and is the son of Charles and Catharine 
(Swenson) Norlin, who were also natives of 
Norway. Our subject worked on his father's 
farm until lie was twenty-five years old, then 
worked for four years on a raili'oad. In 1868 
he came to the Ignited States, and settled in 
Carver coimty, Minnesota, where he engaged 
in carpentering and farming. In 1869 he 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a 



POPE COUXTY. MIXXESOTA. 



197 



homestead of 100 acres in Nora township, 
section 2, wliere lie has since remained. 

Our sul)ject was united in niuri'iage, Octo- 
ber. 1, 1S(!8, to ]\[iss TiUia .lohnson. who 
died in .\|iril. 1S72, leaving one cinid — Ida. 
llis S(!cond marriage occurred October 1, 
187:^, to iliss Ida Anderson, and tiiey have 
been blessed with tiie following children — 
Frank, Ludwig, Tlieodore and ^Mena. Onr 
subject experienced very hard times, and dur- 
ing his early days in Pope county he some- 
times had to work out in order to make a 
living. The fact of his having to pay §50 
for his wife's ticket to this country and her 
long illness, coupled with the destruction 
of four crops by birds and "hoppers," made 
it very iiard for him, but he has ])ersevered, 
and has seen success crown liis efforts. 
He now lias a well improved farm of 200 
acres, good house and barn, witii a dense 
artificial grove of jiis own planting. Tlie 
farm is idcely located, lying on the noi'tli 
side of Pike Lake. 



~w^\ 



«^- 



\\LE NELSON, a respected and inteili- 



Vs^>/ gent farmer, residing on section *j, 
Hoff township, was born in Norway, April 
1, 1837, and is a son of Neis and Elizalieth 
(Oleschitter) Eilingson. The mother tlied in 
her native land, and in 1869 the father came 
to the United States, and located in Iowa. 
One year later he came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and took a homesteatl of eighty 
acres in Iloff township, remaining here until 
the time of his death, November 26, 1SS7, 
being at tliat time eighty 3'ears old. Nels 
Eilingson and wife were the parents of three 
children — Ole Nelson, our subject, Mary, 
now Mrs. Gilbert Joiinson, anti Carrie, now 
>hs. .Albert Peterson. 

Ole Nelson '■x^-iiw to manhood in tlie iantl 
of his birth, attending school until he was 



fourteen years old, when he was engaged at 
work in tlie pineries. Latei' lie entered the 
regular army of Norway, and served for 
five years. In 1868 he sailed for America, 
landing in Quebec, Canada, after a vo3'age 
of over seven weeks, and proceeded to Clav- 
ton county, Iowa, where he engaged in farm- 
ing and remained Uiv two years. At the 
expiration of that time he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and located on section 6, 
lioff township, where he has since lived. He 
has made all the imj)rovements on the place, 
and now farms 240 acres, devoting his atten- 
tion to stock-raising and general farming. 

Mr. Nelson was married in August, 1862, 
to Miss Mary Thorenson. She was a native 
of Norway, having come to the United 
States with her father in 1869, and located 
in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are the par- 
ents of six children — So[)hia. Martin, Lena, 
Mary. Olive and Nels, all of wlxmi are still 
single. 

The family are active and exemplary mem- 
bers of the Lutheran fUuircli. Mr. Nelson, 
in political matters, affiliates with the repub- 
lican part}'. 



^4.-. 



-.^. 



([^HARLES P. REEVES, county attorney, 



^y and one of the most capable and ])i'om- 
inent law^'ers in Pope county, is a native of 
Dane county, Wisconsin, born February 3, 
1856. His parents were John and Jane 
(Oswin) Peeves, natives of England. The 
fatiier, John Reeves, came to America in 
1850, and spent three years in Dane county, 
Wisconsin, at Madison and Middleton. He 
then returned to England, where he was 
mariied to Jane Oswin, and in 1855, with his 
young bride, he came again to the United 
States and settled in Dane count}', Wiscon- 
sin. He was extensively engaged in farming 
and stock-raising, anil was among the early 



ig8 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



pioneers of that I'eoion. In 1S69 he sold out 
his interest there and removed to Mitcliell 
county, Iowa, where he was extensively en- 
gaged in farming until the time of his death 
in ISS-I. His widow is now a resident of St. 
Paul. They luul a family of five sons, as 
follows— Cliarles P., our subject; Henry, a 
stock buyer at Decorah and West Union, 
Iowa ; Sidney H., a druggist in St. Paul ; 
Arthur J., a real estate dealer in St. Paul, 
and Frederick W., a student at Hamline 
University. John Reeves, the father, was a 
prominent man during his lifetime in the 
locality in which lie lived. He was a repub- 
lican in political matters, and both he and 
his wife were members of the Church of 
England. 

Charles P. Reeves, the subject of our pres- 
ent sketch, remained at home, and spent his 
boyhood, from the time he was fourteen 
until he was nineteen years of age, in attend- 
ino- the district schools. When nineteen he 
entered the Cedar Valley Seminary, an ed- 
ucational institution of high rank, located at 
Osage, Iowa, took a full course, and was 
graduated in the class of 1878, receiving the 
degree of B. S. He then entered the law 
office of Cyrus Foreman, of the same place, 
and there pursued his law studies until the 
fall of 1881, at which time he entered the law 
department of the State University at Iow\a 
Citv, from which he was graduated in the 
s])ring of 1882. In the spring of 1883 he 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and located 
at Glenwood, where he has since pursued his 
profession and built up a lucrative ]iractice. 
In 18Si he was elected county attorney, and 
has held the position ever since. Mr. Reeves 
is a republican in jiolitical matters, a mem- 
ber of the j\t;isonic fraternity and also a 
member of the United Woi'kmen. 

Our subject was married in January, 1885, 
to Miss Mabel Daley, of Osage, Iowa, and 
their fannly consists of one daughter. Ha- 
zel M. 



l|s\^EVl B. CANTLEBERRY, an ex-Union 
I'j^^ soldier, antl one of the most prom- 
inent and influential farmers in the northern 
part of the county, resides on section 25, 
Leven township. He was born in Holmes 
county, Ohio, October 6. 181:-1, and is a son 
of David and Louisa (Davenport) Cantle- 
berry. His father, who was born in Pennsjd- 
vania, died in 1886. He was aprominent man 
during his lifetime in the locality in which 
he lived, taking an active interest in pub- 
lic affairs, and held various official positions, 
including that of postmaster, in Ohio for a 
number of years. The mother is still living. 
David Cantleberrv and wife were the par- 
ents of five chililren, four boys and one girl, 
as follows — Emanuel, Maria, Levi, AVilliam 
and James, all of whom are still living. 

Levi B. Cantleberry, our subject, s])ent his 
boyhood days and received his education at 
Waseon, Ohio, and grew to manhood in his 
native State. He attended school until he 
was fifteen years of age, and remained at 
home until the Civil War Ijroke out. He 
then, in 1861, enlisted in the Fourteenth Ohio 
Infanti-y, and afterward in the Thirty -eighth 
Ohio Infantry, and served until the close of 
the war. He saw ver^' active service, and 
participated in a number of the most famous 
battles of the war, among the most impor- 
tant of which were the battles of Stone River, 
Mission Ridge. Chickamauga, and also in the 
Atlanta campaign, being with Sherman in 
his famous " march to the sea." He was 
honorably discharged at Camp Taylor, near 
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1865, and shortly after- 
ward came to Minneapolis, whei-e he lived 
from October, 1865, until 1880. In the latter 
year he came to Pope county and pui-ciuised 
160 acres of land on section 25, Leven town- 
ship, where he still lives. He now has one 
of the most valuable farms in the township, 
comprising 220 acres, well improved, and de- 
votes his attention to stock-raising and gen- 
eral farming. He has a fine barn, and 



POPE COUMTY. MINNESOTA. 



199 



has it well filled with graded and common 
stock. 

Mr. Cantleberry was married May 13, 
1868, to Miss Letta S. IMoffett, and they have 
become the parents of five children — Emma, 
Cliarles. Walter, Andrew and Alvin. Emma 
is now the wife of E. S. Brag<^. a dairj'raan, 
of St. Paul. Mrs. Cantleberry is a native of 
Illinois. 

Mr. Cantleberry lias always taken an act- 
ive interest in public matters, and has been 
prominently identified with otlicial matters 
since he came here, having held various local 
offices, such as assessoi-, supervisor, etc. He 
is a I'cpnblican in jiolitical matters, and an 
honored member of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. 

• •*> • 

fDHN O. ESTENSON, a highlv esteemed 
and successful business man of Cyrus, 
is engaged in the grocery trade. He was 
born near Galena, Illinois, in a "railroad 
shanty," on the 18th of February, 1853. His 
father was then working on the railroad, 
but soon afterward moved to a farm near 
St Peter, Nicollet county, Minnesota, and 
there our subject remained until he was 
twenty -one 3'ears of age. He then engaged 
in buying and selling cattle foi' four years. 
Coming then to Stevens county, he took a 
homestead near Hancock, where he re- 
mained until 1880, when he removed to 
Cyrus, in Pope county. There John O. Es- 
tenson opened a store, stocked with a full 
line of groceries and crockery ware. He is 
also deputy postmaster for his father-in-law, 
K. J. Huzavold. Mr. E.stenson owns three 
steam threshing machines, and his enterprise 
and business ability have prominently iden- 
tified him with the growtii and development 
of the western part of the county. 

Tiie subject of this biogra])hy was mar- 
ried June 22, 1882, to Miss Pertha II. Huza- 



vold, and their union has been blessed with 
three children — Alfred, Carl and Emma. 
His parents are both dead, his father dying 
in June, 1886. and his mother in August, 
1870. The following are the children of his 
parents — John (our subject), Austen, Nels, 
Louis, Alice, Louisa and Esther. Austen is 
married to iliss Anna Thompson, and lives 
near Granite Falls; Louis is married to ^fiss 
Emma llogstrom, and lives on the old home- 
stead in Nicollet county ; Alice is married 
to Olum Strand, a merchant in Le Sueur, 
Minnesota. Mr. Estenson is a man of the 
greatest integrity and honor, and takes an 
active interest in all ])ublic matters. Politi- 
cally he is independent of parties, voting for 
the best man rather than for creed. 



-«-; 



J^ATRICK JONES, a resident of section 
j^ 5. Bangor township, is one of the lead- 
ing farmers and stock-raisers of the eastern 
part of the county. He is a native of Can- 
ada, born in the Province of Quebec, Sep- 
tember 26, 1834, and is a son of Patrick and 
Betsy (Day) Jones, his parents being natives 
of Belgium and Ireland. The parents came 
to Canada when young, and were married 
there. The father dieil in November, 1887, 
and the mother is still living in Canada. 
They raised a family of ten boys and four 
girls, our subject being the seventh born. 

Early in life Mr. Jones adoj^ted a sea-fa r- 
inji; life, and received his education 071 the 
island of Cuba from an old sea captain, 
master of the ship •' Lodi." Our subject 
spent in all about seven years upon the sea, 
first as cabin boy, then cook, then seaman 
and finally second mate. Tiring of a sea- 
man's life he abandoned that and went into 
the pineries on the Penobscot river, in the 
State of Maine. Tliere he spent eight years, 
and at the expiration of that time he came to 
Pope county, Jlinnesota. Within seven 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



days after his an-ival in the State he had 
claimed his present fine farm of 320 acres, 
which was tiien Government land. Since 
tliat time he has devoted his attention to 
genera] farming and stock-raising, most of 
the time, although for three years he was 
engaged in the machinery business. Mr. 
Jones was married, in 1875, to Miss Kate 
Ilogan, a daughter of Patrick Hogan, one of 
the leading farmers of Westport township. 
Their marriage has been blessed with five 
cliildren — Mary Isabelle, jMaggie Ella, "Wil- 
liam Edgar, Agnes anil Maud all of whom 
are still at home. 

Mr. Jones has always taken a very promi- 
nent and active part in public and educa- 
tional affairs, and lias been one of the most 
prominent men in tlie official history of the 
townsliip. He has held nearly all of the 
local township or school district offices at 
different times. 

In political matters he is one of the most 
prominent republicans in the eastern part of 
the councy, and has represented his township 
as a delegate in about twenty conventions of 
that party. It was he who gave the town- 
ship the name of Bangor, after liis old iiome 
at Bango)", Maine. 

Mr. Jones was canglit in tlie famous l)liz- 
zard of 1S74, being homeward-bound from 
Sauk Center at the time the storm over- 
took him. He was out nearly all night, and 
lost his team. Tlie only bodily injury he 
suffered was to liave his feet badlv frozen. 



-«— 



WCTOR E. STRONG, a well-todo farm- 
er residing on section 11, of Glen- 
wood township, is a native of Calhoun county, 
Ohio, born April 2, 1843, and is the son of 
the Eev. H. N. and Rhoda (Jacobs) Strong, 
natives of New York and Ohio. The father 
was educated in New York, where he com- 



menced his ministry. At first he was a 
minister of the Methodist denomination, but 
later in life became a Swedenborgian. He 
is now eighty-three years old, and lives a 
retired life. The wife died in 1S8G. The 
parents had a family of ten children, seven 
of whom are now living — Ezra B., James E., 
David E., Martha (now Mrs. Breithoupt), 
Victor E., Laura A. (now Mrs. Peter Lasher), 
and Abiel S. 

The principal subject connected with this 
sketcii, Victor E., was reared on a farm, 
attending school in Kankakee county, Illi- 
nois, and five years at Lancaster, Wisconsin. 
In 1861. when his country was overcast by 
the dark war cloud of rebellion, he enlisted 
in Company F, Tenth "Wisconsin Infantry, 
and remained in active service about four 
years. He was taken prisoner, and held six 
months and three days; was at Libby pris- 
on, Riciimond, Virginia. At the time of his 
imprisonment there he shared the suffering 
with 1,000 other brave comrades. They 
had to sleep on the naked floor, and as one 
would turn over, the remainder of them in 
the same row would have to do the same. 
For a month their only rations were sou]) and 
corn bread, he being detailed to give out the 
rations, which consisted of a piece of corn 
bread two inches square, and a little thin 
soup. The soup lasted three weeks, and 
after that they had nothing Ijut corn bread. 
Aftei" four montlis he was taken ill, and was 
then removed to the hospital, where he 
remained for two months. This was in 1863, 
he being paroled March 21, 186-t. During 
the war he saw much of hardship and human 
cruelty. He was in active service in the 
following battles : Stone River, Eesaca, 
Atlanta, besides ten other Iiloodv enrao-e- 
ments. 

After returning from the war he was 
married to Miss Julia Carrington. a native 
of Grant county, AVisconsin, and the daugh- 
ter of Arthur and Virginia (Gear) Carring- 



POPE COUNTY. MPV.VKSOTA 



201 



ton, who were natives of Kentucky and 
lllinnis. 

Arthur Cai-riiigton was a mercliant of 
riattvillc, Wisconsin, for a nuiiil)or of years, 
then sold out and went to California during 
the <>()hl excitement of 1S4'.). lie remained 
there two years, returned to his famil\% and 
moved them to Arkansas, and from there 
started hy the way of tlie Mississippi i-iver, 
and from New Orleans he took a steamer for 
San Francisco, crossing the isthmus. The 
boat took fire on the Pacific coast, when 
near JMarietta Island, and he and his wife 
were drowned. Mrs. Strong was at that time 
four years old, and her brother, Frank, a boy 
of fifteen months. Both were snatched from 
the angry waves of the ocean by the pas- 
sengeis. After being on the island for three 
days and nights, with no food or di-ink ex- 
cci)t some molasses and vinegar, the party 
made their escape, being taken to San Fran- 
cisco by a whalin'g vessel. At San Fran- 
cisco they were met by their uncle, Timothy 
Carrington, ,who cared for them for five 
veais. Tliev lost all tlieii" monev, bao'iiatie 
and all earthly effects, ilrs. Strong and her 
little brother were brought back to Gilford, 
Illinois, by William (lear, where she re- 
mained a few months, then went to Eurling- 
ton, Iowa, where for three years she lived 
\\\\\\ Oscar (4ear, after which she went to 
Tafton. Grant county, Wisconsin, where she 
lived with an aunt, Mrs. Thearl. Being an 
or]>haii, she was sent from place to place. 
The guardian proving anything but true to 
ills trust. Mrs. Strong never realized what 
property rightfully belonged to her. 

After liis marriage Mr. Strong settled in 
(irant county. Wisconsin, and was blind for 
two year's by disease contracted in Libby 
prison during the war. lie fanned there 
until l.s(;it. then went to Folk county. Wis- 
consin, where he took a timber claim of 100 
acres, and lived on the sanu' for fifteen years. 
He had thirty acres umler the plow, ami was 



quite successful at farming. He sold out in 
1884, and moved to Pope county, Minnesota, 
settling where he now lives, on a 16(1- 
acre farm under a high state of cultivation. 
He is an honorable member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic and commander of 
James Ganfield Post, No. 38, Glenwood. In 
politics he is a republican. He holds the 
offices of townshi]) supervisor and clerk of 
the school board. His family consists of 
wife and four children — Ernest A., Nettie E. 
v., Walter C. and Raymond V. 

ARL L, PETERSON, druggist, of Glen- 
wood, is one of the most prominent, 
active and enter])rising young business men 
at the county seat. He has taken a commend- 
able interest in all public affairs, has served 
as one of the trustees of the village, a mem- 
ber of the board of health and of the village 
council; his name is prominently associated 
with the later histor\' of the place. 

Mr. Peterson was born in Denmark, in 
1861, and is a son of Julius and JIatilda 
(Saunte) Peterson, who were natives of the 
same kingdom. His grandfather, Peter 
Peterson, was a prominent man in the old 
country, a professor and teacher through liis 
life, and died in 1875. Carl's grandparents, 
on his mothers side, were Lars and Matilda 
Saunte, his grandfather being also a teacher. 

Carl's father, Julius Peterson, was a mill- 
wright l)y trade, and he and his wife still 
live in their native land. They had a family 
of nine children — Nicoline, Carl L., Julius, 
Laura. Anna, So])hia, Ernest. Henry and 
Hans. Carl Peterson was educated in his 
native land, and there learned the business of 
a druggist, serving an ap|)renticeshi]) of three 
years. In ]SS2 he came to the United States 
and settled in (Tlenwood, Minnesota, where 
he commenced clerkin<r in the diHiir store of 
O. J.Johnson. Eighteen months later the 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



store was biirnetl, and he accepted a position 
as clerk in the dry-goods stoi-e of J. G. 
Whittemore k, C'ompan^-.and remained with 
them for a year and a half. At the expiration 
of that time, in the spring of 1885, he went 
into partnership, in the drug business, with 
his former employer, O. J. Johnson, and the 
present firm was formed. At that time they 
bought out a drug store at Starbuck, of which 
]VIr. Johnson has charge, while Mr. Peterson 
manages the business at Glenwood. Theirs 
is the only drug store at the county seat, and 
by their strict integrity and careful attention 
to business tliey have built up an extensive 
trade. 

Mr. Peterson was nnn'ried in ISSO to Miss 
Mary Erickson. a native of Pojie county and 
a daughter of Even Erickson. They are the 
parents of one ilaughter, Matilda E. 

In political matters our subject affiliates 
with the democratic party. He is a membei' 
of the Masonic fraternity. 



.-.^. 



W^ 



I) HOMAS HUME, of the firm of Johnson, 
Mclver tt Hume, is one of the most 
influential and respected citizens of Pope 
county. He was born in "Wellington county, 
Canada, Noveml)er 5, ISil. He lived at 
liome on the farm with his parents. William 
and Anna (Anderson) Hume, until he was 
twenty-one, when he came to Pope county, 
and took a homestead on section 24, Ben 
Wade township. He owns 140 acres of 
good farming land, owns a half interest in the 
town site of Lowry, and a third interest in 
the o:eneral mei'chandisin"' store of the firm 
mentioned above. 

Mr. Hume has taken an active intei'est in 
all ]>ublic matters, and has been honore<1 
with various local offices, such as chairman 
of supervisors, justice of the ])eace, and 
school clerk for ten or fifteen years. In 
political matters he is a prohibitionist. 



Tiie subject of this memoir was manied, 
July 1, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Watt, a 
daughter of David and Margaret (Camerson) 
Watt, natives of Scotland. The}' have been 
blessed with six children — William John, 
Margaret Anna, David Watt, Thomas Kobert, 
Elizabeth Helen and Isabella Catherina. 
They are all exemplary members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

■^LAUS OLSON, one of the oldest set- 



\^lii^ tiers of the central part of Pope 
county, is a resident of section 2. Barsness 
townsliip. He comes from that sturdy na- 
ti(jnality, wliich by their energy, tiiriftiness, 
economy and integrity, make up the most 
valualile ])ortion of ^Minnesota's population, 
being a native of Xorway. 

Mr. Olson was born near Kragra, Norway, 
October 1.5, IS-tO, and i^ a son of Ole and 
Mary Olson, who are natives of the same 
kingdom. The father died when our subject 
was but a small child, and the mother is still 
living with Olaus. In 1848 they all came to 
America, locating in Rock Eiver, Wisconsin, 
where they remained for two years and then 
moved to Waupaca, Wisconsin. Olaus tiien 
started out for himself, working among the 
farmers, etc., until he came to Crow Eiver, 
Minnesota, where he took a squatter's claim. 
There he remained, making various impi'ove- 
ments. such as erecting a house and break- 
ing, etc., until along in 1862, when the Indian 
outbreak occurred, when he, witli other set- 
tlers, was forced to flee to the eastern set- 
tlements for safety. In 1866 he came to 
Po]ie county and took a homestead on sec- 
tions 2 and 11, where he still lives. 

During his eailv settlement in this county, 
lie, like all ]iioneers, endured many priva- 
tions and hardships. One day, when out 
hunting, he saw smoke rising above the 
trees, and on his careful approach, not know- 



rOPE COVXTV. M/y.VESOTA. 



203 



inir whether it was caused bv Indians or 
whites, he beheld a log hut which he found 
to l>o occupied by two wliite men. a Norwe- 
sian and an American. All tiiat nii'lit thov 
reniaincil seated arounil the log fire, relating 
expei'iciices and getting acciuainted. Early 
the next morning thev jt)Ui'neyed on foot, 
with hand sled, to Sauk Center for provisions. 
They returned the same day, reaching their 
cabin late that night, completely exhausteil 
and almost frozen. 

My. Olson was married in 1871 to Lena 
Gilbertson, daughter of Gilbert (lilbertson, 
and their union has been blessed with three 
children — Julius Alfred. Kdwin Olen and 
Lena Olava. 

Our subject is one of Pope county's most 
highly respected citizens. His farm com- 
prises o2?> acres of excellent land. Mr. Ol- 
son has held numerous oiHces in the town- 
ship in which he I'esides, such as school diiH>ct- 
(>r and township treasurer, and is a m('ml)er 
of the Norwejiian Lutheran Church. 



-*-: 



JJAMES N. GALLINGER, residing on sec- 
^ tion 5, (jf (irove Lake township, is a na- 
tive of Ontario, Canada, born December 25, 
1837. lie is the son of Michael G. and Mar- 
grel (Cryderman) Gallinger. natives of the 
same country. They were extensive farmers, 
and followed the same through life. The 
father lost his life, in 1849, by meeting with 
an accident while operating a threshing m;i- 
chine, his arm being torn asunder from 
his body by the cylinder, causing death after 
about thirty days. His widow died in 1850. 
They had a family of eight chiklren, four 
sons and four daughters, as follows — Mary, 
now Mrs. Jacob Gallingei' ; George II.; Diana, 
now Mrs. Edwai'd Bryan; Margret, now 
Mrs. M. Cook; Reuben M.; John J.; Cathar- 
ine, now Afi's. Benjamin (Tallinger and James 
N. The parents were members of the Epis- 



copal Church, and always took an active 
part in churcii and educational affairs. The 
father was a man of ju'ominence and influ- 
ence in the community in which he lived. 

Our subject was reared to farm life, and 
received a good common school education. 
He stayed at home until twenty-two years 
of age, and was then niarricHl to Miss Ma- 
riah Gallinger, the daughter of George and 
Flora (iMcMillen) (Tallinger, natives of On- 
tario, Canada, and extensive farmers of that 
section. Mrs. Gallingei' is one of a family of 
six chiklren — Benjamin, Michael, Alexander, 
Mariah, William and Wester A. The 
mother died in 1SS8, and the father still lives 
in Ontario. They wore both memliers of 
the Methndist Episcopal Church, ami highlv 
respected for their virtues and Christian 
characteristics. 

After his marriage Mr. Gallinger pur- 
chased 150 acres in Ontario and went to 
farming, continuing the same until 1882, 
wiien he sold out and came to the United 
States, locating whci-e he now lives. Before 
locating, however, he traveled in the prov- 
ince iif Manitobii- and through Dakota Ter- 
ritory, init finally selected his present home. 
AVhen he purchased this place, there were 
among other imjirovements, a fair house and 
stabling for foui- horses, but since that 
time necessity and comfort have compelled 
the owner to erect a large barn, 3fix48 feet 
dry house and a granary on land owned on 
section 4, adjoining his home place. He will 
build a fine farm house in 1889, if his plans 
are not thwarted befoi'e that time by some 
ill turn of fortune. His landed estate is 480 
acres, 280 being the original fai'iu tract. 
Their family consists of six chiklren — Se\'- 
mour, married Miss Edith Bush, of Ontario, 
and now lives with his father; Edgar C, 
died at the age of eighteen years, in Ontario, 
Canada ; Amsa G., Alvin N., Ida C. and 
Reuben J. 

Mr. Gallinger is one of the largest and 



204 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



most thoroughly practical farmers in the 
county, and has made a complete success of 
his farm life. Ami, notwithstanding he has 
been a busy worker at home, looking after 
the interest of his large farm property, yet 
he always finds time and thinks it no less 
than his tluty, to take an active part in all 
public matters of both county and State. 
Naturally enough such a man has been 
pressed into local offices not a few ; he has 
been supei'visor and chairman of the same, 
school trustee and road master. Both he and 
his wife have been long identified with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, lie has been 
an exhorter in tlie cluu'ch of his choice for 
the past twelve years. 



/^^v\LE DYRSTAD, whose farm is situated 
v^i/ on section 8, Minnewaska township, 
is a native of Norway, born in 1832. lie is 
the son of Jacob and Siren (Tessum) Dyrstad. 
His father was engaged in carpentering, 
blacksmithing and farming. Both he and his 
o-ood wife lived, labored and died in their 
own native land — Norway. They had two 
sons and one daughter — Ole, Cecelia and 
John. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on 
a farm and also worked at carpentering in 
Norway. In 1870 he immigrated to Quebec, 
and from there to the United States, coming 
to Pope county, Minnesota, where he took a 
homestead of 160 acres and built a small log 
house, made other necessary improvements 
and has lived thereon ever since. In 1885 
he built a commodious residence and a good 
barn. 

He has been three times elected to the 
office of su])ervisor. In politics he is a re- 
pui)lican, and, together with his wife and 
children, belongs to tlie Luthei'an Church, he 
being a trustee of the same. 

Mr. Dyrstad was married to Margarett 



Nordhang, by which union four children were 
born — John, Sirvet, Olivia and Ingaber, who 
died in 1870, aged two years. The eldest 
son, John, mari-ied Miss Annie Holtan, May 
17, 1885, by whom he has two children — 
Oscar and ]\Ial)el. Sirvet married [Miss Pet- 
terena Knelstad ^Vfay 17, 1SS5. The\' have 
one child — Emma. Olivia married Mr. Olif 
Vinje, November 25, 1886, by \vliom one 
daughter has been born, Mabel D. 

Mr. Dj'rstad had the misfortune to lose 
his first wife, June 13, 1870. In the fall of 
1871 he married Miss Martha Gudenum, of 
Norwav. 



J^RED CALMEYER, dealer in confection- 
M^^ ery, fruit, vegetables, cigars, tobacco, 
sewing machines, etc., is one of the most 
prominent and highly respected old settlers, 
who still resides in the county. His name is 
indissolubly connected witli the history of 
the northwestern part of the county, where 
he settled at an early day, and where for 
many years he lived, taking a prominent 
part in all j)ublic matters. 

Mr. Cahneyer is of German descent, al- 
though he is a native of Norway, where he 
was born September 4. 1837. His parents 
were Frederick A. and ^largaret C. (Bi'own) 
Calmeyer. The father was a merchant, and 
carried on that business in connection with a 
large distillery until the time of his death, in 
1853. The mother is still living in Norway, 
being over eighty years of age. In their 
famil}^ there were seven children, ail of 
whom are still living. Only two of the fam- 
ily are in the United States — Gerhardine, 
wife of H. M. F. Irgens, of Nora township, 
and Fred, the subject of this sketch. 

Fred Calmeyer received an excellent edu- 
cation in the land of his liirtli, and while 
still a lad of but twenty he adopted a seafar- 
ing life as a calling, and followed a sailor s 



POPE COUNTY. MIXXESOTA 



205 



life from 1857 until 1861. In the mean time, 
in ISoI), lie cimie to tlio United States and 
niaile iiis iionie with his uncle. ITeniy Nel- 
son, in Xew York City. In 18(51, shortly 
after the war broke out, he enlisted in Com- 
pany I). Fourteenth New York — the First 
Metropolitan Light Cavalry ^and went into 
the service. He saw active duty, and was 
finally honorably discharo-ed and mustered 
out as corporal, after three years of service. 
After the close of the war our subject again 
''took to the sea," and followed sailing for 
three years and a half, after which he was an 
apprentice on a New York and Sandy Hook 
j)ilot boat until March, 1868. During the 
following summer he was employed as a 
sailor on the great lakes, and then, in the 
fall of 1868, he took a " lay-off " for the pur- 
pose of visiting his sister, Mrs. Irgens, in 
Mower county, Minnesota, and the following 
sjiring they all emigrated to Pope county, 
^rinnesota. arriving here in June, 1869, and 
settling in what is now Nora township. At 
that time the townshij) was unorganized, and 
there were only six settlers within its limits. 
In the s|n'ing of ISTO the town was organ- 
ized, and during the same year the first 
school tlistri(-t was ortjanizcd, embracincr the 
whole township, and was known as district 
No. 28. Our subject was elected the first 
town clerk, and was one of the active factors 
in effecting the organization. 

Upon his arrival here Mr. Calmeyer took 
a homestead of 160 acres, and began improve- 
ments, but, as he was a single man. in 1870, 
he left his i)lace and went to Minneaiiolis, 
whei-e he was employed in a saw mill, return- 
ing in the fall to attend to his farm. This 
method he followed for four seasons, when 
he settled there. He took an active and 
prominent jxirt in all matters of an official 
nature. In 1876 he secured theestal)lishment 
of the m;iil route between Alexandria and 
Morris, and was apjioiiUed the lir.st post- 
master in Nora, retaininjj the office for seven 



years and a half. For ten years ho held the 
offices of town clerk and justice of the ])eace. 
and did his full share in all educational and 
other work which marked the progress of 
the township. In 1883 he sokl his interests 
there, and removed to Glen wood, whei-e he 
has since lived. 

Mr. Calmeyer was married at Minneapolis, 
in 1871, to Miss Sophia Hanson, a native of 
Norwav, and thev have two childi-en livinor — 
Fredrikke and John. The family are ex- 
emplai-y members of the Lutheran Church, 
in which organization our subject holds the 
office of secretary. Mr. Calmeyer is a 
"straight" republican in political matters, 
and, since his residence in the countv seat, 
has taken a lively interest in public affairs, 
having served as city clerk and assessor of 
Glenwood u]) to 1888. They have a com- 
fortable home on the shores of Lake Min- 
newaska, while Mr. Calmeyer's place of 
business is located on Minnesota avenue. 

* ' — ••*^*-*fSii^^* 'v ' •■ ■ 

#EORGE R. WHEELER, merchant, and 
postmaster, at Terrace, in Chippewa 
Falls, Pope county, Minnesota, is a native of 
the Province of Quebec, Canada. He was 
born December 30, 1839, the son of Austin 
and Charlotte (Miller) Wheeler, natives of 
"Windham countv. Vermont — the father 
from New Fane and the mother from 
Duinerston. The father was both a carpen- 
ter and millwright by trade, and was an excel- 
lent workman, employed both in Vei'muiu 
and Canada. The latter part of his lile he 
was engaged in farm pui'suits. on a lioo aci'e 
farm, where he also raiseil lino stock. In 
the time of the Canadian Rebellion, in 1837 
and 1838, he was a volunteoi-, and was lieu- 
tenant of his company. He was a man of 
much influence and public note, being a 
justice for many years in Canada, and cap- 
tain of the militia. He died in 1866, his 



2o6 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



wife having passed on before him in 1846. 
They had a famil\' of four children — two of 
whom now live — George R. and Charlotte A. 

Geoi-gell. was reai'ed on a farm in C'anaihi, 
receiving an academic education : lie re- 
mained with his father until twenty-eight 
years of age, having sole charge of the farm. 
When he was twenty -eight or tweiity-nine 
years old, he came to Minnesota, and settled 
in Owatonna. Steele county. He, in com- 
pany with William Moses, now of Alexan- 
dria, and Daniel Ralston. Imilt tlie first wind 
mill for grinding purposes, consti-ucted at 
Owatonna, running the same tor a year and 
a half, then rented for a time, and later 
thev disposed of the property. While it 
was rented William Moses, John A. Wheeler 
and our subject came to Chippewa Falls, 
and built the present flouring mills, in 1870. 
Thev had two run of buhrs, with an eighteen 
foot head of water for their power. A year 
later they l)uilt a saw mill, operating this 
for about seven years. In 1871 a store was 
o])ened by the firm of d. A. Wheeler & Com- 
pany, and four years later Mr. Wheeler died 
and George R, and William Moses, bought 
the merchandise, in the fall of 1S7<!, after 
which the firm styled themselves AVheeler 
& Moses, continuing something more than 
one year. They then traded, Mr. Moses 
taking the interest of Wheeler in the mills, 
and Wheeler the interest of Moses in the 
store. 

October 15. 1878, IVFr. AVheeler was aj)- 
pointed postmaster, and still hohls the posi- 
tion. His brother, John A. Wheeler was 
the first postmaster at (Jhippewa Falls, serv- 
ing from 1871 until the time of his death, 
when William Moses was placed in the office, 
holding the same until 1878. 

Mr. Wheeler has held nearly all the town- 
ship offices, including clerk, justice of the 
peace and chairman of the town hoard, also 
member of scliool board, besides l>eing town 
treasurer for four years. He built his pres- 



ent home in 1873, the best house in the vil- 
lage. He owns one-half of the town site, 
also forty acres within forty rods of the vil- 
lage, and has tindjer lands in the township of 
Gilchrist. 

In 1S62 he was united in marriage to ISIiss 
Jennette Ralston, daughter of Andrew and 
Jane Ralston. Mrs. Wheeler died in 187-f, 
leaving three children, two of whom are now 
living — Jennie A. and Martha M. 

For his second wife he married Annie M. 
Goddard.in 1876. She is the daughter of Hub- 
bard and Mary Goddard. By this union two 
children were born — Maj^ C. and George A. 

In politics he is a republican, ever taking 
an active part in public matters. He is a 
member of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and is looked upon as a man of true 
worth and integrity in the county in which 
he lives. 



•-4- 



Mt ALDOR ASLAKSON, the subject of 
A'^'sL this biograpiiy, is a thrifty and es- 
teemed resident of section 2-f, Langhei town- 
ship. He is a native of Norway, born March 
29, 1850, and is a son of Aslak and Ingri 
(Ilaldorson) Ilaldorson. who were also natives 
of that kingdom. Our subject attended 
school until he was about eighteen years old, 
when he came to the United States, with his 
parents, landing in Quebec, Canada. From 
till re thej' went to Green county, Wisconsin, 
where thev remained two years, during 
which time our subject worked out. At the 
exjiiration of that time they came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and the parents settled 
in Hoff township, where they still live. 
They have a familv of the following chil- 
dren— Ilaldor, Aslagson, Dora, Olena, Julia, 
Inger, Anna, Knute, John and Haldor. They 
are exemplary members of the Lutheran 
Church. 
-Our subject, Haldor, came to Pope county 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



207 



with his elder brotlier, anil lie took a iiome- 
stead on the place he now lives, after work- 
ing out for two years. A " log cabin"' graced 
the place when he purchased it,but lie has 
renovate<l it, and now has a very substantial 
house with other good buildings. 

i[r. Aslakson was united in marriage. Ma}' 
7, 187i, to Miss Sarah* Tiirguson, and they 
have the following children — Alfred, Henry 
and Edwin ; Albert and Thomas are deceased. 
Mrs. Aslakson was born in Waupaca county, 
Wisconsin, September 7, lS5i, and is a 
daughter of Torgus an<l Margret Knudson, 
who were natives of Korway. They came 
to this country in 1851, and remaineil in Wis- 
consin for fifteen years, when they came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and were among 
the first settlors in the county. They have 
a family of six children — Andi'ew. Knute, 
Knute .Jr., Betsie, Mary and Sarah. Our 
sul)ject is highly esteemed by all who know 
him. lie has held the offices of school treas- 
urer and school director for a number of 
years. He is a republican. lie lias a good 
farm and is engaged in farming and stock- 
raising, and has an extensive grove of his' 
own planting around his house. 



••«— J^{^-4>-> 



^S^LEXANDER ALEXANDER, a resident 
-Zr^^ of section 32, WestporL township, was 
born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in the month of 
April, 182-t. His parents were John and Eliza- 
betli (Corson) Alexandei-, l)otli nativesof Si'ot- 
land. The parents were reared, married and 
died in the same country. The iiuHlierdied 
first. The father was a cal)iiu't-makei', and 
followed the same through life. They wei-e 
Presbyterian in their religious belief. Their 
family consisted of live children, three of 
whom are now living. Their names were as 
follows — Alexander, Jane, Elizabeth, John 
and liobert. 

Our subject was reared and received his 



education in the land of his birth, and re- 
nuiined there until 1843. He spent about 
two years in England, working at the cabi- 
net trade in Liverpool. From there he came 
to Quebec, Canada, in lS-1-5. where he worked 
at his trade for two years and a half. He 
next went to Montreal, and worked at steam- 
boat joiner work, for a year and a half. He 
then went to Chicago, Illinois, and began 
the business of a millwright pattern-maker. 
To this business he really devoted about all 
the balance of his life, or until coming to 
Pope county, Minnesota, in 1S77. He re- 
mained at Chicago for live j'ears, and then, 
in the spring of 1853, came to St. Paul, 
Minnesota, where he continued at inill- 
wiighting and pattern-making. At that 
Crii'ly day everything was very new in the 
then Territory, and St. Paul was a mere vil- 
lage. In 1860 he went to Jtemphis, Tennes- 
see, ami remained about nine months, when 
he returned to St. Paul. In ISfil he went 
to St. Anthony's Falls, and ivmained there 
until 1877, when he came to Pope county. 
U]ion ills arrival here he purchased a farm 
in Westport township. He has since, at 
various times, bought additional pieces of 
land, and sold, dealing considerably in farm- 
ing lauds. He now owns about 220 acres, 
but does not personally farm it, as he leads 
a retired life. 

Mr. Alexander was marriinl, in 1848, to 
Miss Ann McConnell. a native of Canada, 
and they were blessed with one daughter, 
who is now the wife of James E. Stalker, of 
Westport township. 

Ml'. Alexander is repul)lican in ])olitical 
belief, and has held theolfiee of clerk of the 
school district in which he lives for the past 
nine years. He b(;longs to the ^lasonic 
lodge, and while in West St. i^aul was an 
alderman for two years. He lost his lirst 
wife in Chicago, by clKjlera, and in 1S52 
mari-ied for his secontl wife Miss Margaret 
Stewart, a native of Scotland. She died in 



2o8 



POPE COC'XTY, M/.ViVPSOTA. 



Minneapolis in 1873. His last marriage was 
to Miss Mary Stalker, tlie date of their mar- 
riage being in ISSO. Her parents were for- 
merly from Scotland. They came to America 
in April, 1835, and settled in Canada. Eight- 
een months later the family i-emoved to 
()gdeiisl)urg, Xew York. About one year 
later they removed to Lewis county, same 
State, where Mrs. Alexander was born. In 
1814 tiie family settled at Utica, but on ac- 
count of the sickness of the father they lived 
for some time at the sea-shore. In 1848 
they settled at Alderbrook, Madison county, 
New York, where they remained until 1866, 
and then came to Minnesota and located at 
Minneapolis. There the father died in the 
fail of the same year. In 1870 the family 
came to Pope county, where the mother died 
in 1880, and this has since been the home 
and headquarters of the family. The father 
was a British soldier during his early life, and 
spent twenty years of his life in the service, 
being at times stationed in the East and 
West Indies, Bermuda, Ireland, ("anada, etc. 
Mrs. Ale.xander was first married in 1870 
to Alijert Carpenter, and they became tiie 
parents of one child, James W. Mr. Carpen- 
ter was one of the oldest settlers in the north- 
ern portion of Pope county, having located 
here before the war. Shortlv after settlino- 
here, he enlisted in the army and spent three 
yeai's in the service. After his discharge he 
returned here and remamed until his death, 
which occurred in 1S74. lie was killed by 
lightning-. 



-«-fSj^' 



I^ON. GEORGE \V. THACKER, the 
present State senator from this dis- 
trict, is a resident of (TJenwood, and is one 
of the most prominent okl settlers still living 
in the county. He is a native of Clarmont 
county, Ohio, born January 1, 1840, and is 



m 



a son of Stephen and Esther (McKinney) 
Thacker, who were natives of Xew York 
and New Jersey, respectively. The family, 
in an early day, removetl to Illinois and set- 
tled about fifteen miles west of Chicago, 
where they carried on a farm of 400 acres, 
and where the parents reuutined until the 
time of their death. The father died in 
1847, the mothei- in 1880. The}' had been 
married at Clarmont, Ohio, in 1829, and were 
the parents of seven children — John, Beulah, 
Elsie, AVilliara H., George W., Benjamin F. 
and James M. — all of whom are still living. 
Stephen Thacker, the father, was a promi- 
nent and influential man in the locality in 
which he lived ; a member of the old whig 
part\^, and an active participator in all public 
moves of his tinae, and, while he never sought 
important office for himself, he was active in 
assisting others, and was prominently itlen- 
tifled with every important official action of 
those tlays. 

After his father's death. George W.- 
Thacker remained at home until he was 
eleven years of age, attending the district 
schools and receiving such education as the 
facilities of those days ailorded. In the fall 
of 1851, he went with his brother, John II., 
to Jackson county, Iowa, and assisted on the 
farm for four years. At the expiration of 
that time he retm-ned to Illinois, and for four 
years attended the Lake Zurich Academy, 
after which for several terms he pursued his 
studies at the Wesleyan Methodist College, 
at Wheaton, Du Page county, Illinois. His 
next move was to go to Central Illinois 
where he taught school for four years, and 
then started West. Making his way to Minne- 
sota, in 1862 he settled in Dodge county, 
and taught school there. At this time the 
Civil AA^ar being in ])rogress, in response to a 
call for men, he enlisteil, November 16, ls68, 
in Company K, Secoml Minnesota Cavalry, 
and was mustered into the service. The 
command with which he was connected was 



POPE COU.VTY, MINNESOTA. 



209 



assigned to front ioi' duty, and the most of 
liis term of service was s])ent in T)ai<ota. He 
was finallv lionorablv disciiaroed at Fort 
Snelling, May 4, 1866, as orderly sergeant. 

After his discharge from the service T\[r. 
Tiiaeker came direct to Pope county, arriv- 
ing liore in June, 1866. He took a home- 
stead of 160 acres on Lake Ann, in Reno 
township, and began improvements, erecting 
a little log cabin, 16x20 feet in size, did some 
plowing, and set out a gi-ove of several acres, 
which has so grown and thrived that it is 
to-day among the finest in the county. 
There, upon iiis iiomestead, he lived for 
many years. 

In 1881 he purchased a farm of 120 acres 
north of the village of Glenwood, and cari'ied 
it on for two velars, and, in fact, still dc^'otes 
a gooti share of his attention to his farming 
interests. 

^fr. Tliacker lias always been a re])ublican 
in political matters on national issues, and 
in the ])ast has been one of the leading 
members of that part}' in this portion of the 
State. lie served as count}' commissioner 
in 1868 and 1869. In 1884 he was elected 
to represent this district in the lower 
house of tiie State Legislature, and served 
with credit and ability for two years, and 
through one of the most important sessions 
ever held in the history of the State. At 
the exi)iration of his term as representative, 
he was elected State senator from this dis- 
trict, which position he still holds. He is a 
man of excellcnl education and wide sjenei'al 
knowledge; a man of tlie strictest integritv, 
and a careful business man ; he is one of the 
leading citizens of tiie county, and one of 
its most highly esteemed old settlere. 

Mr. Tliacker was married, in 1868, to 
Jliss Cordelia Mills, a native of Kew York, 
and a daughter of Warren and Charlotte 
Mills. Tills union ha.s i)een blessed with 
five children, as follows — George II., Stephen 
"W., Lottie E., Clara S., and Ilattie C. 



AMUEL E. GILBERT came to Pope 
-i^county in 1881, and settled at Villard, 
starting the first dry -goods store in that vil- 
lage, following the same until June, 1888, 
wlien he started for Portland, Oregon. At 
one time he was president of the village 
council of Villard. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, and in religious belief he is a l\feth- 
odist. He was raised in Jefferson county, 
Illinois. "WJien twelve years of age, he be- 
gan life for himself. He first farmed in 
his native State until the war broke out, 
when he enlisted and went into the service. 
His parents were Henry and Catherine Gil- 
bert, of New York State, and the South, re- 
spectively. The father is dead, but the 
mother is still living. Our subject was mar- 
ried, December 2, 1866, to IMiss Eliza Brad- 
ley, a native of Blount Vernon, Illinois, who 
was a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Van 
Cleve) Bradley. Iler mother died when 
Mrs. Gilbert was nine years old, and the 
father died in 1886. He was a merchant and 
farmer and belonged to the Methodist Epi.s- 
co])al Church, of which he was a devoted 
member. Their family consisted of eight 
children. Two died in infancy, and the 
remaining were — Emery, John, Sarah, Mary, 
Anna and Eliza. By his second wife (Miss 
Ellen L. Kirby) Mr. Bradley had one child 
— ^Cora. Mre. Gilbert was educated at the 
L.idies' Seminary, of Blount Vernon, Illinois, 
and is a fine scholar and teacher. She is the 
mother of three children — Inez J.. Edith P. 
and Clarence II. The oldest daughter mar- 
ried William S. Ablxitt, who is a iiardware 
dealer at Sauk (^enter, ]\Iinnesota. The 
other children are unmarried and are still at 
home. Edith is a graduate of Curtis Busi- 
ness College, of IMinneapolis, having finished 
her course there June 13, 1888. 

Mr. Gilbert enlisted in Company P., 
Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry, in 1861, and 
afterward re-enlisted in the same company, 
serving until 1865. He was wounded twice, 



POPE COUXTY, MINNESOTA. 



and lay for a time in liospital as well as in 
prison. He faithfully served until the close 
of the war, and I'eceived an honorable dis- 
charge. 



MELS H. URNAS, a prosperous and 
highly esteemed citizen of Blue 
Mound township, on section 6, is a native of 
Norway. He was born in Bergen Stiff, April 
14, 1838, and is a son of Harmund and Chris- 
tena (Monson) Urnas, who were also natives 
of that kingdom. He came with his parents 
to the United States in 18(i4, and after land- 
ing in Quebec went to Dane county, Wiscon- 
sin, where our subject remained four or 
five years working out, and then came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and located upon 
the farm where he still lives. 

Nels Urnas received his education in Nor- 
way, and while there served five years as a 
soldier, in the Bergen Stift home militia, 
at the expiration of that time receiving an 
honorable discharge. 

Mr. Ui'uas was niariicd, in December, 
ISfiS, to Miss Sarah Thompson, and they have 
been blessed with the following children — 
Henry, Thonuis, Betsy, Christina, Belle 
and Ella, all of whom are living at home. 
Mrs. Urnas is a native of Norway, and re- 
mained there until she was nine years old. 
when she came to the United States with 
her parents, who settled in Dane county, 
Wisconsin. 

Mr. Ui'nas is a man of the highest honor 
and integrity, and by that energy, thrift and 
industry which so distinguish the people 
of his nationality has placed himself in ex- 
cellent circumstances. He has a valuable 
farm of 200 acres, and is engaged in general 
farming and stock raising. Our subject, with 
his family, belongs to the Lutheran Chui'ch. 
In jiolitical matters he is a staunch repub- 
lican. 



OHN JOHNSON, now a resident of sec- 
tion 34, is one of the first four settlers in 
Pope county, having come to what is now 
Lake Johanna township, in thespringof 18G2, 
in company with Salve 01eson,Greger Halver- 
son and Ole Kittleson. Mr. Johnson is a na- 
tive of Norway, born in 1826, and his early 
life was s]>ent on the home farm of his par- 
ents. While yet a young man he learned the 
painter's trade, wliicli he ff)llowed in connec- 
tion with peddling until the spring of 1850. 
He then left his native land to seek a home 
in America, coming direct to Dane county, 
Wisconsin, where he had relatives living. 
He remained there four months, when a com- 
pany from that part of that country was 
made up to go to the northern part of the 
State and form a settlement. They went to 
what is now Waupaca county, where our sub- 
ject took a claim, on which he lived, engaged 
in farming, for a period of ten years. In the 
spring of 1860 he sold his farm, and with 
three ox teams, three covered wagons, some 
fifty head of cattle, and a few colts, he 
started with liis family for Minnesota. He 
located on a piece of land in the town of 
Crow Lake, Stearns county, and there de- 
voted his attention to stock-raising and hunt- 
ing. During one of his hunting expeditions, 
he came west to what is now the southern 
part of Pope county, which at that time had 
just been surveyed. As stock-raising was 
his principal occupation, and as this part of 
the country was peculiarly adapted to that 
industry, he returned to liis claim in Crow 
Lake, and gave his neighbors a \-\yv\ account 
of the excellent advantages afforded in the 
hitherto unknown land that lay beyond 
them. In the spring of 1862 he, with the 
three others already mentioned, came to Lake 
Johanna, selected the best land, built for 
each a log house, and then brought their fam- 
ilies to their new homes. At that time they 
were the farthest settlement west. Tlie 
nearest settlement was at a distance of eight 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



miles to the iiortli of tliciii, while on tlir 
south tliere were no settlers neai'er tliuii thii'- 
teen miles. Here tliey lived, secluded from 
all, until Mr. llalverson journe3"ed to the 
settlements east of them. lie there heard 
of the Indian outbreak. I'etui'ned, and they 
decided to liave their families watch, Fi'om 
the top of the hills, the surrounding- country, 
while the men finished their work. 

Later, Mr. Johnson and two others, who 
had couie the day before, started out on a 
scouting e.\|X'dition to learn whetliei' there 
was any foundation for the reports. While 
following the l)0i'ders of a lake, they saw 
across the prairie a company of horsemen 
whom they supposed to be Indians, and they 
started to flee for their lives. The horse- 
men, who had caught sioht of \.\\k fuiiitives. 
started in swift pursuit. Mr. . Joiinson, 
although the eldest of the three, soon dis- 
tanced his companions, but after running a 
short distance he gave out and fell in the tall 
grass, not knowing what moment a Ijullet 
might end his life. The horsemen, who 
proved to be a company from Paynesville 
who were journeying to i)urv thirteen who 
were killed by the Indians west of Norway 
Lake, had supposed the fugitives were In- 
dians. They soon came up to him and 
picked him up. As our subject relates, so 
great had been his fear that it was some 
moments before he could realize he was in 
the hands of fi-iends. He was very well 
ac(piainted with one of the men, and this in- 
cident was the source of many a joke in after 
years. He and those with \\\w\ went with 
the comi)any to Norway Lake to i)ury the 
thirteen mentioned who had been killed the 
day before. The following day, accompa- 
nied by half of the company for protection, 
they came back for their families, an<l all went 
to Paynesville. They then went to work to 
fortify the town, and as they did not get the 
fort large enough to hold all, those? left on 
the outside decided to go farther from the 



danger. Their first stoji was at Richmond. 
After they had left those in the fort felt 
their band too small to defend themselves, 
and started after those who had gone before. 
Ovei'taking them at liichmoncL they pre- 
vailed upon them to return and foi-mahome 
guard, and enlarge tiie foi't, which they did. 
While thei'e Mr. .lohnson traded off his 
stock, which he had driven with him. to a 
fai-mer for his cro]), the fai'mer being bound 
to leave the country with his family. After 
remaining in the fort some time, and, as their 
com|)any was ctnitinually growing smaller 
In* families leaving for safer jilaces, the 
remaining few decided to go to 8t. Cloud. 
While on the way there our subject sold off 
th(> remaining part of his stock to farmers 
along the route for what he could get. The 
crop he had taken from the man in Paynes- 
ville was burned by the Indians, and he ovAy 
received $2 for some of the cattle he sold 
on the route. In the fall of 1S(!2, after the 
Indian trouble was over, he settled in St. 
Cloud, where he was employed about one 
year and a half for N. P. Clark, of that place, 
who was engaged in buying hay. Our sub- 
ject's transactions were chiefly with those 
who had put up stacks in the Indian region, 
and who were afraid to in^turn to them. He 
had to take Government orders for his waces 
and fearing they were not very good, and 
still holding to his original idea of having a 
stock ranch where he had taken his claim, he 
traded otf his orders for cattle. 

i\fter about a year's time he had accumu- 
lated a great many cattle, and on leaving St. 
Cloud he went some twenty miles east to 
what is known as St. Francis, where he and 
his family lived for a year or two, after 
which he returned to his claim and followed 
trap])ing all through this region, going as 
far west as Big Stone Lake. During the 
ti'apping season he saw but little signs of 
Indians, and, considering the country safe, he, 
in the smnmer of l6"!-f, returned to his farm, 



POPE COU.VTV. M/AWF.'^OTA. 



where he lived until the spring of 1888, 
when his son Henry took possession of the 
old farm, and oiu' snhject moved to Gilchrist 
township, Pope county. Minnesota, where he 
now resides. Mr. Johnson was in the earlier 
days one of the most active men in all town 
and educational matters, and when the coun- 
ty was organized was offei'ed tiie choice of 
th(! offices, but declined to fill any one, pre- 
ferring' to give his attention to his farm and 
to stock-raising. Feeling the advantages of 
education, he. when liiere were no schools in 
his region, sent his i'amily to where they 
could attend school, and at times hired a 
private teacher for tlu>m. 

The subject of this biography was married 
in his native country to Miss Ingebar Olsdat- 
ter Vastveit, and they have been blessed 
with the following children — Ole J. Sandvig, 
now countv auditor; Christian J.. Knute J., 
who married and is living on section S-t, 
Gilchrist townsliip; Henry J., who has the 
old farm; Ingebar, who is now Mrs. Admun 
Syverson, of Gilchrist ; Elizebeth and Annie, 
who are at home with their parents. Mr. 
Joimson now makes his home with his sons 
Christian and Knute, on section 34, where 
tiiey have a fine farm, with a large fi'ame 
house, a barn 20U feet long, and are doing an 
extensive farming and stock-raising business. 
They have over 200 head of cattle, with a 
good number of horses. Politically, Mr. 
Johnson is a republican. 



•«--J^^-<- 



^ilil^HOM HALVORSON, the subject of 
\J1L7 this biography is a prominent and 
thrifty farmer of Lake Johanna township, 
residing on section 7. He was born in Nor- 
way, July IS, 1840, and in 1862 he came to 
the United States. After landing in Quebec, 
Canada, he journeyed to Red Wing, Min- 
nesota, where he remained for four j'ears en- 
oaged in the stone mason's trade. He then 



came to Pope county, Minnesota. He was one 
of the first settlers in the southeastern part 
of the countv and soon after moving here he 
took his present farm. Our subject's parents 
are still in their native land. Norway, and 
they have the following children — Oster, 
Halver, Rhoda, Anna and our subject. 

iff. llalvoi'son, our subject, received iiis 
education in his native land, and remained at 
home until he was twenty -two \'ears of age, 
when he came to this country. 

He was married June 22, 1866, to Miss 
Jennie Olson, a native of Norway, who came 
to this coiuitry in 1861. They liave been 
Ijlessed with the following children — Henry 
L., Andrew E. G., Halver and John Gilbert, 
all of whom are living at home with tlieir 
parents The family are members of tiie 
Lutheran Church. Our subject is a man who 
is highly esteemed by all who know iiiin and 
has held a great many of the local offices, in- 
cluding those of school clerk, school director, 
treasurer, justice of the peace and constable. 
He is in excellent circumstances, having an 
extensive farm of 300 acres with good ira- 
]n"ovements, and is engaged in general farm- 
ing and stock-i'aising. In political matters 
he affiliates witli the re])ul)liean party. 

Ml'. Ilalvorson iias also been eng-aged in 
well-digging for many years, and dug the 
deepest well in Red AVing, Minnesota. 



^NDREW JACOBSON, one of the most 
■^^^ prosperous and energetic farmers of 
Pope county, resides on section 24, Rolling 
Fork township. He was born in Bergen 
Stift, Norway, July 25, 1854, and is a son of 
Jacob JMonson and Jennie Johnson, who 
were also natives of that kingdom. "When 
he was sixteen he commenced life for him- 
self by learning the boot and shoe trade, at 



which 
years. In 



he was engaged 



in Bergen for five 
1874, he came to the United 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



213 



States, first stopping in Pi-iiiric Dii ('iii(Mi, 
Wisconsin, wiiere lie remained I'oi' one ye;u\ 
wovkinii' iit iiis trade and on farms. Ho 
then was employed on tlie Wisconsin Iliver 
as a logger for one year, and tlien lie re- 
moved to Grant county, Wisconsin. He re- 
mained there two years, working in a shop, 
and at the expiration of that time he came 
to l.ai'quiparle county. Minnesota, and took 
a preemption claim in that county. After 
))roving it up, in three 3-ears he sold out and 
moved to Poj)e county, Minnesota, and took 
a farm in Moiling Fork townsliip. Our sub- 
ject is in comfortable circumstances, and has 
a niagniticent fai-m of 400 acres, with good 
iiuilding improvements and 150 acres undei' 
cultivation. Mr. Jacohson is a representa- 
tive man of his township, ami has held tlje 
office of lownshi]) clerk for four years; be- 
sides in otiier ways has taken a prominent 
part in pul)lic affairs. 

The subject of this sketch was united in 
marriage, June f(>, 18S1, to Mrs. Tolena 
Paulson, the widow of Fron Paulson. They 
have the following children — Carrie and 
Peter, by her foi'iner husband, and Joseph- 
ina. .\li)ert T.. I^ena and Carl by our subject. 
Ml'. Jacobson affiliates with the repuljlican 
party. 



4« 



^^^>- 



^J\ NDREW SCHEY, who has charge of 
^^Sjl, the lumljer yard of the Fi'emiid Asso- 
ciation in (ilenwood. is one of the most 
highly respected old settlers of the county, 
being a pioneer of Wiiite Px'ar Lake town- 
ship. 

Mr. Schey is w. native of Norway, where 
he was born in 183*1, and where he remained 
until he was thirty years of age. Until he 
was twenty years old lie remained at home 
with his ])arents, and then began life on his 
own account, working at whatever ho found 
to do. His pursuits were varied until Ajiril, 



1866, when he started for the New World, and 
embarked on a steamer for Quebec, Canada. 
From there he made his way direct to Win- 
neshiek county, Iowa. He found work there 
and remained until the 1st of June, 1867, 
when, in company with some sixteen or 
eighteen other hardy pioneers he started for 
the Northwest. In the " train " which was 
made up there were some sixteen wagons, 
all drawn b\' ox teams. The ])arty came 
direct to where Glen wood, Minnesota, is now 
located, and went into camp, while the men 
traveled over the surrounding country in 
search of suitable locations. Not findin<r 
timber enough to suit them, they all ])ushcd 
on to Douglas county, where they looked 
about for a few days and pi'oceeded to Otter 
Tail county. After prospecting thei'e for a 
da\' or two bad weather set in and Nels 
WoUan. Anton llogenson, lient Wollan and 
Mr. Schey all returned Ui Pope county and 
took claims in White ISear Lake township. 
As Bent Wollan and Mr. ydiey had no 
families they helped the others — N. Wol- 
lan and A. Hogenson — build their cabins, 
and Mr. Schey lived with N. AVollan for 
some time. During that fall, however, he 
began improvements, breaking four or five 
acres, and during the succeeding winter got 
out logs for his cabin. The following spring 
Mr. Schey was mai'ried to JNIiss Isabell Chris- 
tian, and settled upon his farm. Thev lived 
there until the spring of 1884, when they re- 
moved to Glenw(K)d, aiul since? that timi; Mr. 
Si'hey has had cliarge of the Freniad Associa- 
tion's lumber yard, and has rented his farm. 
He has piirchasetl a house and lot in the 
village and has otiier propert}' interests in 
the county. 

Like all of the old settlers, Mr. Sciicy had 
but little means when he came here, and had 
to endure many hardships, privations and 
disadvantages. When his log cabin was 
l)uilt nearly all the lumber used had to be 
sawed out with a " whip saw." When our 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



subject left his farm he had sixty-five acres 
out of the 160 under tillage, and liad brought 
the place to a high state of cultivation. The 
original cabin, which he built twenty years 
ago, is still standing, although considerably 
remodeled and imjiroved. 

In 1885 Mr. Schey took a trip to the " old 
country,"' and sj)ent about two months in the 
land of his birth. 



JV VER I. HIPPE, the subject of this sketch, 
^ a resident of section 12. is one of the most 
prominent and highly esteemed citizens of 
]S'e\v Pi"uiie township. He is a native of 
Norway, born about eighteen miles northwest 
of Christiania, Xorway, December 23, 18-17. 
Iver remained on the home farm with his 
parents, Iver I. and Mariet (Ingerbretson) 
Ilippe, until he was about 2U, when he came 
to Amei'ica. 

In 18G8, when our subject came here, he 
settled in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, 
where he remained three years. "While there 
he euffaffed in farmino' and workiu"' in the 

CO o ~ 

pineries. 

Mr. Ilippe came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, in 1871, and on May 6, 1871, took as a 
homestead the northwest quarter of section 
12, New Prairie township, where he ha.s 
since remained. Our subject is an influential 
man in his township, and has been ]M-ominent 
in all ])ublic matters. He has held the of- 
fices of justice of the peace and township 
clerk ever smce the organization of the town- 
ship — November 11, 1876. For the past four 
years he has been a member of the board of 
county commissioners, and during two years 
of the time was chairman of that body. 

In the springof 1S(>7 Mr. Hippe was taken 
sick with typhoid fever and for weeks lay 
at the point of death, but, thanks to skillful 
medical attendance, he recovered, and since 
that time has enjoyed the best of health. 



The subject of this memoir was married, 
March 2, 1870, to a Miss Anna Erickson, 
daughter of Erick and Anna (Olsen) Erick- 
son. They have been blessed with the follow- 
ing children — Mary, Eliza. John, Christiana. 
Sojihia, Ida and Julia. 



»OSTEN 

W 11, Ilof 



C. LIEN, a resident of section 
)ff township, is one of the oldest 
settlers and most prominent and highly 
respected citizens in the southwestern ]ior- 
tion of Pope (-ounty. He is a native of 
Nordre, Aurdal, Norway, born Se])teinl)er 
24, 1849, and is a son of Christian and Anna 
(Mickelson) Lien. His father died in his 
native land, at nearly sixty years of age, 
and our subject grew to numhood, ami re- 
ceived his education in the land of his biith. 
In 1869, when he was twenty years of age, 
accompanied by his mother, they came to 
the United States, landing at Castle Garden, 
New York, after an ocean voyage of sixteen 
days on a steamer. From New York they 
proceeded directly to Green county, AYiscon- 
sin, where they settled. In 1870 Mr. Lien 
and his mother came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, where each took a homestead of eighty 
acres inHoff township. They at once began 
improvements, and he has lived in the town- 
ship ever since, his mother dying December 
3i>, 1883. T. C. Lien was the second settler, 
iind erected the second iiouse within the 
limits now forming the town. His industry 
and integrity have not been unrewarded, for 
he is recognized as one of the most reliable 
and substantial farmers of the county. His 
building improvements are among the best 
in this part of the county and reflect much 
credit upon his enterprise. He devotes a 
great deal of attention to stock-raising and 
has accummulated a substantial herd. His 
barn is one of the best in the town, and has a 
capacity for holding thirt}' tons of hay. The 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



215 



buildings are surrounded In* ;i tlirift}' and val- 
uable grove of timber of liis planting, and as a 
whole the farm speaks extremely well for the 
thrift, care and energy of its proprietor. 

Mr. Lien was married Oct(>i)er 23, 1874, 
to ifiss ^hwy Anderson, a native of Nor- 
way and a daughter of Anders Anderson. 
Iler motli(>r is dead, and her father married 
again and is still living. Mrs. Lien came to 
the United States in 1873, and settled, with 
her people, in La Crosse county, Wisconsin, 
where she was reared and educated. The 
following are the names of her brothers and 
sisters — Sire, Ole, Ella, Darbara, Dora, 
Andria and Mary, and her half-brothers and 
halfsistei's were — Ingra. Anders, Nels, Knute 
and Dora. 

Ml'. Lien has two brothers and one sister 
living; the family consists of the following- 
named — Swell, Michael, Mary and Tosten C. 

ifr. and Mrs. Lien have been the ])arents 
of two children — Anna, who still lives at 
home, and Dina, who died at six years of age. 

ifr. Lien is a republican in ])olitical mat- 
ters, and iias taken a very active, and prom- 
inent ])ait in public mattei*s. lie has held 
a great many local oIKces, including those of 
town supervisor and chairman of the board. 
The family are exemi)lary members of the 
Lutheran Ciiurch, and our subject has for 
yeai-s been treasurer and trustee of that 
organization. 

In connection with his farming, Mr. Lien 
owns an interest in a steam threshing ma- 
chine. He owns 320 acres of land in a g(jod 
state of cultivation. 



--»-; 



«4>- 



, M UGUST OSTERBERG, the subject of 
jL^'-Jl the ])resent article, is a resident of 
section 8, Nora township. He is a native of 
Sweden, born at Westergild, February 1-1, 
1849. and is a son of John and Johanna 
(Andereon) Osterberg, who were also natives 



oi Sweden. He lived on the Iiouk; farm 
with his parents until he was fourteen years 
old, when he learned the mason's trade. 
This he followed until 1869, when he came 
to the United States, coming direct to St. 
Paul, Minnesota, where he worked at his 
trade and other occupations for three yeai-s. 
He then settled in Pope county, Minnesota, 
filing a homestead on land in section 8. He 
settled on his present claim in 1873. and has 
a good farm, fourteen horses, thirty \wm\ of 
cattle and neat and substantial buildings 
nestled in a dense grove of his own planting. 
He also owns a traction steam thresher of 
the latest improved pattern. He is a man of 
integritv, and is highly esteemed bv all who 
know him. He has one of the best farms in tlie 
county, and is rated as one of the most success- 
ful farmers in the townshij) in which he lives. 
Our subject was married in St. Paul, JL'irch 
23, 1872, to Miss Christine Johnson, a daugh- 
ter of John and Mary (Carlson) Anderson, 
natives of Sweden, and tliey have been 
blessed with the following children — Selma, 
Cecile. Frank E., John K., Ester E., Hulda 
A., Arthur L., LLirry E.. Edith and Lydia 
Elizabeth. In political matters Mr. Oster- 
berg is a republican. 



-• ^- 



-«.- 



,LV1N JAMES BISHOP, the subject of 
1^^ our present sketch, i-esides on .sec- 
tion 14, Walden township, where he is en- 
gaji-ed in fjeneral farming. He was born at 
Anthem, Jefferson county. New York, Feb- 
ruary 15, 1853, and is the son of Julius and 
Samantha (Collier) Bishop. 

During his infancy his parents moved to 
Cook county, Illinois, where his father died. 
His mother having married again, in 1803 
he came to Wabash county, Minnesota. 
There he worked on a farm until 1873. wlien 
he came to Wahlen township. Po])e county, 
Minnesota. 



2l6 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



On account of being under age he worked 
at an\'tliing which turned up until attaining 
his majority. He then toolv a homestead on 
section 14. Walden township, and two years 
later took a tree claim on the same section. 
Since then he and his brother-in-law have 
bought 240 acres fi'oni a neighbor, and they 
have one of the most desirable farms in the 
township. 

Our subject was married ilay 15, 1877, to 
Rizpali Tobey, of Morris, Stevens count}', 
i\Iinnesota, and tlieir union has been blessed 
witli Kve children — Ilattie Samantha (de- 
ceased), Myrtha May, Jule Acer, Clarence 
and Arciiie. Mr. Bishop is a republican in 
politics, and is a representative man of his 
townshi]). He has experienced and had to 
encounter a great many difficulties and dis- 
advantages, but with untii-ing energy and 
determination he has surmounted them and 
has been verv successful. 



JOSEPH TOWNSEND, one of the oUl set- 
tlers and leading citizens of "Reno town- 
ship, is located on section 13. wiiere he car- 
ries on (livei'siHed faruiina; and stock-raisintr. 
Mr. Townsend is a native of County Antrim, 
Ireland, wiiere he was born in 1823, and is a 
son of John and Mary (Torp) Townsend. 
His parents both died in his native land, the 
father wiien seventy and the mother when 
seventy -six vears of age. They were the ])ar- 
ents of fourteen cliildren, four of whom died in 
infancy. Ten grew up. as follows — Nancy, 
Elizabeth, David, Mary, Jane, Frances, John, 
Koljert, Josej)]) and George. Five of them 
came to tiie United States — Xancj', David, 
Jane. Robert and Joseph. Xancy was a 
widow wlien siie came, having a family of 
several children. She is now deceased. .lane 
became tiie wife of Joseph Clark, of Kin- 
sington, Philadelphia, and is now deceased. 



David is a farmer of Leven township, while 
Robert died in Canada. 

Joseph Townsend grew to manliood and 
received his education in Antrim, Ireland, 
attending school until he was sixteen yeai"s 
of age. After leaving school he worked at 
farming and remained in his native land 
until 1849, when he sailed for tiie United 
States, and, after a voyage of six weeks, 
landed in New York City. He soon after- 
ward went to Providence, Rhode Island, 
where he remained for two years, eni))l()ye(i 
in the silversmith shops of Gorliam, Thu)- 
ber & Dexter, at No. 12 Steeple street. At 
the expiration of that time he went to Can- 
ada and engaged in farming, remaining there 
for seven years, and then removed to Ran- 
dolpli county, Illinois. 

There he was living at the time the war 
broke out, and in June, 1862, he enlisted in 
the Eightieth Illinois Infantry, and went 
into the service. He was in the front all 
through the balance of the war and saw: 
very severe service. Besides many skir- 
mishes, he participated in thirteen pitched 
battles, of wiiich the following is a bi'ief 
review of the most important: Perry ville; 
ililton Hill, wiiere the command to which 
his regiment was attached held a very im- 
portant jiosition; Mission Ridge, Buzzard 
Roost, Rocky Face, Resaca, Dallas, 
Franklin and Nashville. At the battle of 
Dallas (lur subject was severeh' wounded in 
the back, and for five months ]a\' in various 
hospitals. Upon his recovery he returnetl to 
his regiment at Columbia, Tennessee, in time 
to participate in the battle at Franklin, Ten- 
nessee. Three weeks later they took part in 
the battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, 
1864, and then chased Hood out of Alabama. 
After this tliey were stationed at Hunlsville, 
Alabama, for six weeks, and then moved to 
Greenville, Tennessee, where tliey were in 
camp when Lee surrendered and when Lincoln 
was assassinated. Mr. Townsend was honor- 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



217 



ably discharged in June, 1865, at Cani]) I5ut- 
ler, Illinois, and at once returned to Riuulolpli 
count}', Illinois, where he was married, 
December 10, 1867, to Miss Juliana S. Ingram. 
A few weeks after receiving his pay for his 
army service, in 1S6.5, Mr. Townsend came 
to Minnesota, and for a number of months 
worked at Minnea])olis. In the mean time 
lie had taken a homestead on sections i:'. .-ind 
14, licno townsliii). i'o])e county, and settled 
upon it in Isd.i. lie has a valuable fai'in. 
and still makes this his hi>me. He has 
always taken an active interest in all school 
ami township atfaii's and has held various 
local ottices. 

Mrs. Townsend was born in York county, 
South Carolina, but was brought up in Illi- 
nois. She had tme brother (her only one), 
who enlisted in the Thirtieth Illinois Infan- 
try, and was taken prisoner at Atlanta, 
Georgia, and died of starvation after three 
months of suffering in Anderson ville Prison. 

]\Ir. and Mrs. Townsend have three chil- 
dren — -lolin If.. ^lary A. and Elizabeth H. 
The parents and two children are mendjers 
of the I'resbvterian Church. 



-♦- 



"^^ELSONHUTCHlNS.apromiiuMitfarm- 
J& >^ er of section 12, (xieuwood township, 
is a native of Canada, having been born in 
that province. May 2, 1824. He is the son 
of William and Margret (Empey) Hutch- 
ins, also natives of Canada. The father was 
a farmer, and held various official ])ositions 
in his province. His grandparents were 
of English blood. William's family con- 
sisteil of three brothers and five sisters; six 
of the family are now living — our subject, 
the oldest one living; Morgan L., of St. 
Paul, secretary of State Relief Association ; 
Charlotte, now Mrs. William Cillard. of Can- 
ada; Caroline, now Mrs. Parr, of Canada; 



Alice, now Mrs. Shinney, of Canada, and Riv- 
anah S., now Mrs. Johnson. 

Oui' subject spent his younger days in 
school, at home, where he remained until 
twenty years old, then became the husband 
of Miss Dianah Warner, of Canada, who was 
the ilaughtcr of William and Mary (Ilaun) 
Warner, also of Canadian biitli. They were 
extensive farmers, and the father was a lead- 
ing man of his coimty. They had a family 
of eighteen children, sixteen of whom are 
still living — Mrs. Ilutchins. William; l\Iary, 
now ^frs. Eamen ; Lyman; Caroline, now 
Mrs. Weart; Johile, Julia A., Henry, Eliza- 
beth, Maria, John, Isaiah, Robert, Russell 
A., Dixson A. and Charles. 

After Nelson's marriage he began farming, 
remaining in Canada until 18S0, then sold 
out his home and came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, where he at first rented a farm 
for one year, thus giving him time to look 
about for a permanent place. In 1881 he 
bought 480 acres of land, where he now 
lives. He made good inqirovements and has 
since purchased land in Grove Lake town- 
ship and two lots in the village of Villard. 
He is engaged extensively in stock-growing 
and grain farming. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ilutchins have a family of 
six clnldren living — Emaranda, now ifrs. 
Miles Romljough, who lives in Canada (and 
is the mother of live chiklren — Delia, Dexter, 
William, Oliver and Hattie) ; another 
daughter is Agnes, now Mrs. John Manniufi-, 
of Glenwood township (the mother of six 
children — Nelson, Nellie, Isabella, Oliver, 
George and Jerome) ; Simeon married Miss 
Annie Rutley (they have five children — 
Oliver. W^illard, Agnes May, Ettie and Edith); 
Malissa, now Mrs. James McLave, of Canada 
(they have two children — William and 
Arthur); Polly A., now Mrs. Alvin Ea.stman 
(mother of four sons — Nelson, Joel Jesse and 
Willie J.); Jerome married iliss Alice M. 
Momany and has one child — Frank. 



2l8 



POPE COUXTY, M/yXESOTA. 



Mr. Hutchins is a radical proliibitionist, 
and butli lie and his wife belong to tlie 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He is presi- 
dent of the Farmers' Alliance and also of the 
County Agricultural Society ; also holds the 
office of school director. He is a man of 
wide business experience and intelligence, 
and is one of the leading and most influential 
farmers in the county. Liberal and enter- 
prising, courteous and well posted, he is held 
in the highest esteem by all who know him. 
A man of the strictest integrity and honor, 
he justly ranks as one of the most exemplary 
and reliable citizens of the countv. 



-^^ 



^^^^ ICHAEL M. RUE, one of the most 
MT-X^^ prominent of the early settlers of 
Pope county who are still residents, is one 
of tlie leading merchants of Glenwood. He 
is a native of Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, born January 29, 1844, and a 
son of George and Esther (Nealy) Rue. The 
father was a native of Finance and the moth- 
er of Pennsylvania. George Pue, the father, 
was raised in France, until about eighteen 
years of age, learning, meanwhile, the boot 
and shoemalcer's trade. About the close of 
the decade ending with 1830 he came to the 
United States and settled in Pennsylvania, 
where he carried on his trade and was mar- 
ried. In 1846 he settled in Sandusky county, 
Ohio, Ixit later removed to Seneca county, 
and then to Tiffin, Ohio, where he worked at 
his trade and also devoted a part of his at- 
tention to fai'ming. In the winter of 1855-6 
they settled in Illinois. Ijut the following 
spring of 1856, came to Olmsted county, 
Minnesota, where the father engaged at 
farming and remained until 1866, when he 
came to Pope county, and settletl in the vil- 
lage of Glenwood. He erected the tiiird 
dwelling on the town site — a large log house 
in which for three years he kept hotel, called 



the " Soldier's Home." Previous to this he 
had taken a homestead of 160 acres in Min- 
newaska township, and at the expiration of 
this time lie removed to it and began im- 
provements, remaining there until the time 
of his death, in 1877. He was a prominent 
man in the early history of the county, and 
was the first justice of the peace at Glen- 
wood; a man of the strictest integrity, a 
member of the Methodist Church and class- 
leader for many years, and a republican in 
political belief. His widow still lives in Glen- 
wood. Mr. and Mrs. George Rue were the 
parents of flfteen children, of whom the 
following are still living — John, Susan- 
nah, Henr}^ William, Joseph, Michael M., 
Lewis, Elizabetli. George, Alice, Mandus and 
Amanda. The lirst two and the last two 
named were twins. Eli (deceased) was in the 
service, was captured and placed in Anderson- 
ville prison, and, as he has never been heard of 
since, it is su]i])osed he died there. Besides 
him Henry, William, Michael M.. Lewis iiiul 
Joseph were also all in the army and most of 
them contracted diseases and disabilities froni 
which they never have I'ccovered and never 
will recover. It is very difficult to find a family 
that furnished as many " boys in blue " as 
the Rue family, and without exception they 
each and all received an honorable discharge 
when mustered out. 

Michael M. Rue, whose name heads this 
sketch, attended district school in Ohio, re- 
ceiving the education afforded by the facil- 
ities of those days, until he was thirteen 
years of age, being I'aised on a farm. Pie 
then came with the fiimily to Olmsted 
county. ]\linnesota. After the war broke 
out he enlisted in Com]iany I, First Minne- 
sota Mounted Cavalry. lie remained in the 
service for thirteen months, when he was 
mustered out, and returned home to engnge 
in farming witii liis father. This he contin- 
ued for three years. Inls66he wasniai'ried 
to Miss Tillie J. Smith, and soon afterward 



POPE COUNTY, MTNA'KSOTA. 



219 



came nortlnvost and took a homestead of 100 
acres near Sauk Centei-, in Stearns county. 
He improved a portion of it, and remained 
tliere until ISOS, wlien he came to Pope 
county and settled in Glenwood, engaging at 
carpenter work ami blacksmithing. Eiglit- 
een months later, in Mai-ch. 1870, he removed 
to Stevens county and settled uj)()n a farm 
in the town of Morris. After a residence 
tliere of seven years he sokl out and returned 
to Glenwood, to engage in the general mer- 
chandise trade, which ho still carries on. 
Mr. Hue is a j)roliibitionist in political mat- 
ters, a careful and successful business man, 
and one of the leading merchants in the 
county. lie is a member of Canfield Post, 
No. 38, Grand Army of the Republic, and 
also belongs to the United Workmen. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hue have a family of six 
children — Minnie V., Ella N., Edith M., 
Birdie, Ervin I. and Jean E. ^Irs. Hue was 
a daughter of Elijah and Mary Smith, the 
father a native of Canada and the mother of 
Ireland. Elijah Smith and wife were the 
parents of five children — John, Hamilton, 
Elizabeth, Mary and Tillie. The father died in 
1SS6, aged eighty -six years, and the mother 
died in 1884-. at the age of eighty-one. 



^1^1 ALTER L. BEACH, an enterprising 



and respected farmer and stock- 
raiser, residing on section 9, Bangor town- 
ship, is a son of Lewis and Phebe (^Lobell) 
Beach, who were [)rominent jiioneers and 
old settlers of (irove Lake township. They 
came to Pope county in lS7o, and settled on 
section 34 of that township, where they pur- 
chased a farm. Lewis Beach and wife were 
natives of New York State ; the latter is still 
living at an advanced age, having been born 
November 25, 1818. Lewis Beach died 
Fei)ruary 9, 1885. He was one of the lead- 
ing men in Pope county, a man of the strict- 



est integi'ity and one whose daily life was 
above re])roach. Early in life he learned 
the carpenters' trade, and followed that for 
many years. In 1855 he came to Minne- 
sota, ar.d pi-ei'mpted a claim in Scott 
county, on which he livetl for some thirteen 
years. He then worked at his trade for a 
few years at Minneapolis and Anoka, and in 
1870 came to Pope county, as stated. Lewis 
Beach antl wife were the pai'ents of three 
children — Josephine, AValter L.,aii(l ,\lj)lion- 
.sine. The hist named was married to J(jlin 
Alorrow, and died in 1880. 

Walter L. Beach, our present subject, was 
born in Steuben county. New York, ]\fay 11, 
1854. He was brought to Minnesota while 
still an infant by his parents and grew to 
manhood here. He remained at home unti" 
1877, when he took a homestead of IGO 
acres on section 9, Bangor township, where 
he has since lived, devoting his attention to 
stock-raising and general farming. He was 
mari'ied, July 28, 1881, to Miss Nancy J. 
Goodwin. She is a native of Sherburn 
county, ^linnesota, and a daughter of Simon 
Goodwin, a lumberman and engineer. \\i}v 
mother died when she was a chikl, and hci' 
father is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Beach 
by this marriage are the parents of three 
children^ — Clara, Lewis and Clark. Our 
subject has taken an active interest in ]Kiblic 
matters, and has held various local offices, 
including those of supervisor of Grove Lake 
township and also clerk of school district 
No. 17, and was the first town treasurer 
of Bangor township. In political matters 
he is a prohibitionist. 



i-^> 



*^^R. JOHN F. SKINNER who is a phvsi- 
^^■* cian, sui'geon and druggist at Chip- 
pewa Falls, is a native of Waukon, Allama- 
kee county, Iowa, born June 4, 1854, and is 
the son of Daniel E. and Hannah (Swan) 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



Skinner, natives of Hartford and Hebron, 
Connecticut. Tiie father was a butcher by 
trade, and hiter in life he engaged in fann- 
ing and sheep-raising in Winnebago county, 
Iowa, where he settled in the fall of 186-i. 
He farmed 320 acres and kept 1,400 sheep. 
He is now retired and living at Forest City, 
Iowa. He reared a family of six children — 
Professor Egbert D., Albert A., Dr. John F., 
(Jimrlutte E. now Mrs. J. E. Howard; "Wil- 
liam E. and Alaggie E. The father belongs 
to the repulilican party and is a worthy mem- 
ber of the Masonic fi-aternity, and, with his 
wife, belongs to the Congregational Church. 

Dr. -lolin F. Skinner was raised on the 
farm at home and received a thorough edu- 
cation. He commenced teaching at the age 
of twenty, continued to follow this profes- 
sion for seven years in three counties in 
Iowa and two in Minnesota. He began the 
study of his chosen life profession — that of 
medicine— in 1875, with Dr. J. A.Hewett, at 
Forest City, Iowa, attending lectures at 
Bennett Medical School, of Chicago, ami 
graduated in 1881, settling in Chippewa 
Falls. He built a drug store, with his 
brother Albert A., on the Little Falls l)rancli 
railroad at Westport. 

The Doctor was married in 1881 to Miss 
Hermina C. Dalum, daughter of Herman 
and Martha M. (Nelson) Dalum, natives of 
Norway. Her mother and family came to 
America after the death of Mr. Dalum, and 
settled at Lake Mills, Iowa, where she died 
in 1888, leaving a family of five children- 
Emmie, now Mrs. Westcott ; Lena, now Mrs. 
Severson; Ludvig ; Mrs. Skinner; Ilannah, 
now Mrs. Larson. The doctor has a fam- 
ily of three children — Vivian A., Vance L. 
ami Hoy C. 

He is a very successful j)hysician and sur- 
geon, and has a large practice, which is con- 
stantly increasing. He is a republican in 
politics and a member of the Eclectic Medical 
School of Chicago, Illinois. 



JVER J.TEIGEN, a prosperous and highly 
'\ esteemed farmer residing on section 24, 
Ben Wade township, is a native of Norway. 
He was born in Lesje, Gudbransdalen, Nor- 
way, December 15, 1811, and is the son of 
Jurgen C. and Anna (Everson) Teigen, who 
were also natives of the same kingdom. 
When about eighteen years of age our sub- 
ject commenced life for himself by woi'king 
on the public road and on the railroad. In 
May, 1870, he came to the United States, and 
from June to November he worked at vari- 
ous kinds of labor. He then came to Po])e 
countv, and toolc a homestead in Ben Wade 
townshij), on section 24. where he has since 
lived, lie now owns 240 acres of excellent 
farming and timber land, with comfortable 
impi'ovements, and a gootl share of iiis jjlace 
is under a high state of cultivation. 

The subject of this biograpiiy was married 
November 18, 1870, to Miss Carrie Olson, 
the daughter of Cle Tohorson and Mary 
(Larson) Tohorson. They have been blessed 
with the following children — Jorgen, Ole, 
Anna. Anton, Marie, Emma, Otto, Nikkolai, 
Tena, Edwin, Edith and Clara. Mr. Teigen 
is a man of the utmost integrity, and is held 
in high esteem both as a neighbor and an 
exemplary citizen. He has held various 
offices such as school director, township 
treasurer and road overseer. Our sul)ject 
is a strong prohibitionist, and in religious 
matters he is an exemplar}' member of the 
Norweirian Lutheran Church. 



^^ 



kAVlD STEPHENSON.a well-to-do farm- 



er, and a respected old settler of 
Grove Lake township, resides upon section 
12. He was born October 11, 1820, in 
Yorkshire, England, and is a son of James 
and Mary (Wright) Stejihenson, who were 
also natives of " Albion's shores." The 
genealogy of Mr. Stephenson runs back to 



roPE couxrv, Minnesota. 



tlie same source as that of (George Steplien- 
son, the faiiioiis iiiventoi- of the locomotive — 
the trraiulfathor of Oavid beiii"' a brother 
of the inventor. David's fatlier. .lames 
Stephenson, was a farmer and reared seven 
ciiihh'en ; two, however, died in childhood. 
The livin<;- children ;ire — David, Richard, 
Joim, William. Ann and James. Tiie father 
is still living at tiie advanced age of eight\'- 
eighl years. The mother died in 1879. 
They were members of the Cliurch of Eng- 
land. Our subject was reai'ed on his parents' 
fai'm, receiving a common school education 
and woi'kedat home until he came to Amer- 
ica, in lS-1-9. He first landed at Quebec, and 
from there went to Toronto, remaining four 
months, and then left for Henry county, 
Iowa, remaining there until the spring of 
1855, then went to Rice county, ]\[inn(;sota, 
and engaged in farm work. He linally pre- 
empted a IfiO acre ti-act of land in Wheeling 
township, which h<Mm])i'OV('tl. In lS(i-lr he sold 
out. and the year following he came to Pope 
county and took a homestead of l*lo acres. 
He has since purchased 40 acres adjoining. 
About the first improvement he made was to 
build a log cabin 16.\20 feet in size, in which 
he lived until 1S76, when he erected a frame 
house lf>x26 feet, to which has been added 
another portion 16x24 feet. The house has 
a splendid cellar measuring 16x20 feet and 
seven feet deep. Ilis house is ))ainted in an 
excellent manner, and his farm is well fenced 
and improved. 

Mr. Stephenson was married in 1858 to 
Miss Christanne Judd. of Indiana, the 
daughter of Lyman and Ohloe (Shippy) 
Judd, natives of New York. The fatlier 
was a farmer who had settled in Ohio in an 
early day, and fi'om there he uujved t(j Indi- 
ana, where he was niariMcd. lie later re- 
moved to I)e Kail) county, llliiKiis, and there 
engaged in extensive farming. His father 
Wits John Judd, a soldier (if the Revolution- 
ary War, going into the army at tlie age of 



fourteen years, and remaining until peace 
was declared. He helped to raise the first 
liberty-pole in this country, and was sent 
out as a spy on Long Island. He lived to 
be an old man, dying in Indiana. Mrs. Ste- 
phenson's father was a soklier in the War of 
1812, serving as a pack-horse driver, and en- 
listed twice during that struggle, the last 
time as a soldier. In 1855 he came to Rice 
county, Minnesota, preempting a jiiece of 
land, and there died at the age of sixty-three 
3'ears, in 1856. His wife survived him until 
1887, aged eighty-six years. They, too, wtive 
both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. They were the ])arents of nine 
Qhildren, six of whom still live — Lucinda 
(now Mrs. Decker), Christanne (now Mrs. 
Stephenson), Hannah (now IMi's. Wari'en), 
Isaiah, Charity (now ^frs. Davulscm) and 
Uriah. Mrs. Stephenson is tiie mother of 
four children — Mary, now j\Irs. Harrington 
(who has three children — L^'inan 13., Frank 
E. and Alta D.); Elsie (a teacher in Glen- 
wood), Lyman E. and Hannah. 

Politically, Mr. Stephenson is a staunch 
republican, and both he and his wife are 
Adventists in religious belief and profession. 
He is a man of the highest integrity, and is 
held in the utmost esteem both as a neigh- 
bor and as an exemplary citizen. 

Mrs. Stephenson's mother, during the war, 
sent two sons to the field to fight — Isaiah, 
who served in the Sixth, and rriali. in ihe 
Tenth ilinnesota Regiments. 

^LONZO M. KEENEY, a pi linent old 

L^^Jl. settler, is a resident of section 7, ilin- 
newaska township. lie was born in Wy- 
oming county, Pennsylvania, in 18;J6, and is 
tiie son of Charles M. and Rebecca (Sterling) 
Keeney. Mr. Keeney the elder was a farmer 
in his native State, and left there in 1850, 
coming to Illinois, settling in Carroll county. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



From that State lie went to California, where 
lie was eini)k)ye(l in the gokl fiekls. He re- 
turned ti) Illinois after three years, and en- 
gaged in farming until 1857, and then settled 
in Wabasha count\'. ]\Iinnesota, whei'e he 
again took up farming, following it for a 
time, ami then moved to Brown county, 
and fro7n there to Story county, Iowa, where 
he remained three years, and then moved to 
Texas, and remained there three years. He 
was taken sick and lost all his projierty, then 
returned, at the advanced age of seventy-four 
years, to wliei-e his son, Alonzo M., now 
lives. The parents have five children now 
living — Louisa, Alonzo M., Denton, Harrison 
and Elmci-. Mr. Keeney, Sr., was a repub- 
lican in his politics, and both he and his wife, 
who is sevent3'-two years old, were devoted 
members of the l)a])tist (Church. 

The subject of tills sketch was reared on 
his father's farm, and received a common 
school education. At the age of twenty-fou.r 
he went out into life's career for himself, en- 
gaging in farming in Wabasha county, Min- 
nesota, where he renuiined about sixteen 
years, then settled where he now lives in 
Pope county, as above described. He Ijought 
187^ acres of land, and raises stock and grain, 
in which he has been very successful. 

Mr. Keeney w^as married in ISfiO, to Miss 
Rachel Brainerd, the daughter of Aaron and 
Catherine (Young) Brainerd, natives of New" 
York State, who came West, to Illinois, and 
there eng;iged in farming. The mother died 
in Illinois and the father in Minnesota. Mr. 
Keeney has a family of ten living children — 
Elsworih, William, Carl, Benton, Guy, ]\laiy', 
Minei-, llattie, Cora and an infant. 

To know that ]\[r. Keeney is a ]iopular 
man, and one who takes much interest in 
public aifairs, we have Init to notice the fact 
that he has been jirominently identilied with 
the various offices within his county. He 
has served as justice of the peace for two 
years, road master, school clerk, and also su- 



pervisor. He is a republican. While living 
in Wabasha county he was constable, road 
master and suj)ervisor, and has always, in 
fact, taken an active pari in public affairs. 
Other noteworthy characteristics of the man 
may be found in the interest he has always 
taken in the cause of temperance and anti- 
monopoly. 

ia.-CHAK L. BARSNESS, a successful, 
enterprising and respected citizen of 
Barness township, residing on section 23. is 
a native of Norway. He was born at Bar- 
ganstadt, Noj-way. January 2(u 1853. Schak 
lived at home on the farm with his parents, 
Schak L. and Anna N. (Nelson) Barsness, 
until he was twenty-one years of age, when 
he came to America, settling in Pope county. 
Here he remained for a period of five years, 
working on his uncle's farm the entire time, 
except one year's journey and stay in 
Dakota, where he could have taken a liome- 
stead within two miles from the present site 
of Grand Forks. 

After his return from Dakota he went 
back to the old home in the Old Woi'ld, 
where he remained from November until 
April, when he again came to the United 
States. Our subject remained with his 
uncle for three years after coming over the 
second time, when he again returned to Nor- 
way in the interest of his countrymen. The 
fact of his taking different routes to and 
fi'oin the old country and his knowledge of 
this world matle him of great advantage to 
those of his owm nationality w'ho were 
immigrating to this country. On his retui-n 
the second time from Norway he brought 
his sister with him, and, leaving her to keep 
house for his uncle, Ole N. Barsness, he went 
to Minnea})olis, IMinnesota. While there he 
ran an engine for the Minneapolis & North- 
ern Elevator Company for tliree years. On 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



223 



liis coming back to his uncle's fanu, 
having to go to Grand Forks, he took his 
sister with him, leaving her at Fargo. Not 
long after this educatetl ami beloved sister 
was taken sick and soon died. Her remains 
were brought to the family cemetery, in 
Pope county, and interred. 

Our sui)ject was married, May G, 1887, to 
Bertha P. Barsness, and they settled down 
on tilt! farm which he had bought in 1879. 
Their union has been blessed with one 
child — Scott. Mr. Barsness is an energetic 
representative of the nationality to which 
he belongs. He has always taken an active 
interest in all ])ublic affairs, and is the ])resent 
assessor of the township. 



[|r^ NUTE L. BREVIG, is a memi)er of the 
Jt?{\. firm of Brevig Brothers, dealers in 
hardware and agricultural iinplenieiits, one 
of the most responsible and reliable business 
houses at Starbuck. i\Ir. Brevig was boi'n 
in Norway, on the liUh of I )ec(nnbei-, IStiU, 
and is a son of Lars and .\niia Brevig. lie 
renuuned in his native land until he was 
seven years of age, when his parents immi- 
grated to the United States with theii- family 
and settled in Clayton county, Iowa. In 
1S70 they removed to Pope County, Minne- 
sota, and the father, Lars Brevig, took a 
homestead on section 34, in White Bear 
Lake township, where he still resides. 

Ivnute L., our subject, remained with his 
parents, attending school and assisting iji 
tiie labors incident to carrying on the home 
farm, until the spi'ing of 188:', when he 
stai'ted in life foi' himself, an<l went to 
Ashl)y, in (Ji'ant county, where, in coni|)any 
with .Af. Olson, Ik^ estai)lished a hardware 
store. Two years later he went to Hancock, 
Stevens county, ^linnesota. In the spring 
of 188fi, he came to Starbuck, and, in com- 
pany with bis brothers, Die L. and Andrew 



L. Brevig, opened their ])resent hardware 
store, agricultural im]i!einent de]iot and lum- 
ber yard. By fair dealing they have built 
up an extensive trade, antl are rated as one 
of the most substantial firms in the county. 

Our subject, Knute L. Brevig, has taken 
an active interest in public affairs. lie was 
appointed village recordei' in the s])ring of 
1888, and still retains that position, and also 
holds a commission as notary ])ublic. 

Mr. Brevig was mari'ied on the 14th of 
Angust, 1887, to Miss Mary Hansen. 



-«" 



/; ;^^LE GILBERTSON, the i)resent county 
V!2^ treasurer, is one of the most promi- 
nent and highly respected old settlers who 
are still residents of the county. He came 
here in 1867, shortly afl(>i' his hoiioi-able dis- 
charg-e from a lon^-and active service in the 
arinv, and ujion his ari-ival in Po])e county he 
settled upon a, houiestead of l<'>(t aci-es in 
Gilchrist townslii]), where he at once began 
improvements, erecting a little log cabin 
12.\14 feet in size, and breaking five acres 
of land during the first season. He n^mained 
there, tilling the soil until 1884, when he was 
elected county treasurer, and, having been 
re-elected in 1886, he still retains that otiicc. 
He is a man of the strictest honor and in- 
tegrity, and he is held in the highest regard 
and confidence by all. His many years of 
residence here, extending over a period of 
twenty-one years, have caused him to be 
well known throughout the county, and his 
word is recognized everywhere as being as 
good as a Ixmd. He still owns the orig- 
inal homestead where he tii'st settled, but 
has bought considerable other land, and 
has lately erected a comfoi'table and com 
modious residence in (ilen wood, so that his 
proiierty interests here are extensive. Mr. 
Gilbertson's name has been prominently 
identified with tlu; history of the county 



224 



rorr. county, minxesota. 



ever since its organization. Besides tlie 
office wiiich lie now holds, he was justice of 
the peace and town clerk of Gilchrist for 
fourteen years, and has also served as count)' 
commissioner from his district. 

Mr. Gilijertson is a native of Norway, born 
in 1S41, and is a son of Gilbert and Helga 
(Peterson) Oleson. His father was a farmer 
and died in his native land about 1845. In 
lS4it tiie motlier came to the United States 
with the family, and settled in Winneshiek 
county, Iowa, in 1852. In her family there 
were eleven children, only four of whom, 
however, are now living — Ragnhild, now 
^frs. O. G. Kivley, of Lacquij)arle county; 
Naive, a farmei- in Winneshiek county, Iowa ; 
Neis, a farmer in the same locality ; and Ole, 
our subject. 

Ole Gilbertson'sljoyhooddays were passed 
in his native land and in Winneshiek county, 
Iowa, being brought up on a farm, acquiring 
his education in tiie common schools. On 
the 14th of Octoi)er, 1861, as the Civil War 
was then in pi-ogress, he enlisted in Company 
(t.. Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, went 
into active service, veteranized and remained 
on duty until January G, 1866, when he was 
mustered out at Memphis, Tennessee, and 
was lionorably disciiargeil January 26, 1866, 
at Davenport, Iowa. Few men saw nuire 
active and (huigercus .service than did Mr. 
Gilbertson. A full and detailed history of 
his army life and reminiscences would fill a 
moderate volume, but we will liere briefly 
review the princijjal expeditions with whicii 
lie was associated, lie pai'ticipated in the 
battles at Fort Heni'y, Donelson and Shiloh 
and at the latter ])hice was taken piisoner 
with tiie iiaianci^ of his regiment, Sunday 
evening, Ajiril •>, 1802. They were trans- 
ferred from one ])lace to another, including 
Corinth, Memphis, Jackson, Mobile, Ca- 
haba, and flnaily to Macon. Georgia, where 
they were paroled, and sent througii Atlanta 
to Chattanooga and Starvation Island, near 



Bridgeport, where thev were confined for 
three d;iys without food, and at the expira- 
tion of that time were turned over to the 
Union army at Bridgeport. The following 
January they received orilers to report for 
duty, and went to Mempiiis, where, under 
the command of General W. T. Sherman, 
they were assigned to the Fifteenth Array 
Corps, and marched on to Vicksburg, then on 
to Jackson, Mississippi, where as a part of 
Tuttle's division they participated in the 
battle at that place on the 14th day of July, 
1863, and they had the honor of taking the 
city. They also participated in the opera- 
tions at and about Vicksburg during the 
siege. After considerable skirmisiiing with 
the Confederates under General Johnson, 
they were detailed to guard I'aiiroads in 
Tennessee, and while there the regiment vet- 
eranized, and were granted the usual veter- 
an's thirty-day furlough. 

Our subject, at the expiration of this time 
rejoined his regiment, which was then at-, 
tached to the First Division, Sixteenth Army 
Corps. They were ordered to Tupelo, Mis- 
sissippi, to drive the Confederates, under For- 
est, from the State, and participated in that 
terrible battle, which ensued July 13, 1864. 
and the following day at Brownsville. After 
this they participated in a great many skirm- 
ishes, making marches after Price in Arkan- 
sas, then to Cape Girardeau. Missouri ; to Jef- 
ferson City, and chased Price to Kansas City, 
getting in hearing distance, but not in sight, 
of his forces. They were then ordered back 
to Nashville, Tennessee, and participated in 
the battle at that place, Decern bei' 15 and 
16, 1864. During the following winter our 
subject went to New Orleans with his regi- 
ment, to join the expedition under General 
Canby, against Mobile, and also participated 
ill the week's siege at Spanish Fort. During 
all this time while being in far fi'om good 
health, our subject remained with ids regi- 
ment, except a few days spent in the hospi- 



POPE COUNTY. MfN.VF.SOTA 



225 



tal. After being mustered out. in istJO, he 
returned to iiis liome in Iowa, and tlie fol- 
lowing spring came to Pope county, IMinne- 
sota, as has been stated in the earlier portion 
of tliis article. 

In 1S72 Mr. Ciilbertson was married to 
Miss Levi Christoverson, a native of Norway, 
and they have a family of seven children 
living, as follows — Julia II., Gilbert, ('arl 
E., Cecelia T., Rosetta A., Theodore N., and 
Oswell (t. The family are members of the 
Lutheran Church. In political matters Mr. 
Gilbertson is a staunch rej)ui)lican. 



^^EORGE P. WINSLOW, a native of 
V^^ Pennsylvania, was born Jfay 13, 1847. 
llis parents were John and Jenette (Loghry) 
Winslow, natives of New York. Their his- 
tory will appear elsewhere in this Album. 
Our subject was educated in Clinton county, 
Pennsylvania, and from the time he Avas six- 
teen to twenty-one years old, he followed 
lumbering. He then removed to Wisconsin, 
where he worked in the lumbering districts 
for three years. From that ])oint he went to 
Lincoln, Nebraska, and found employment 
on the State Agricultural Farm for two 
years. He then went to AVestern Nebi'aska 
and farmed for seven 3'ears in Nuckolls 
county; also raised considerable stock. Fi'om 
there he moved to Pope county. Minnesota, 
purchasing 160 acres of land on section 3, 
Grove Lake, and 100 acres in Leven town- 
ship, and carries on general fai-ming and 
stock-growing. At ))resent he is living in 
the village of Yillard, where for some time 
he was engaged in the agricultural imple- 
ment l)usiness, at the same time carrying on 
his farm. He was one of the town council- 
men for three years, and is now president of 
the council. He alsohekl the office of street 
commissionei' foi- four years. He was juar- 
ried, October o. IS73, to Miss Nora M. Joy, 



who was born September 3, 1854, in Barry 
county, l\nchigan. She was the daughter of 
Lucius I), and P.etsy J. (Hall) Joy. Her 
father \vas a farmer, and an active member 
of the ilethodist Episcopal Church. He; died 
January lo, 1888. The mother died in the 
month of February, 1874. Mrs. Winslow is 
the fifth in a family of eight children — 
George, Albert, DeAV itt, Frank, Nora ]\L, and 
three who died in infancy. Mrs. Winslow 
was educated at Battle Creek, Michigan. 
She is a graduate of the High School of that 
city, and for some time was a teacher. She 
is now the mother of three children — Jessie, 
Inez and Lizzie. 

In his political belief Mr. Winslow is a 
democrat, and always takes an active inter- 
est in all public matters. He is a man of 
the sti-ictest integrity, and is regarded as one 
of tlie most substantial and capable business 
men in the northern iiart of the county. 



fiiMES BLAIR, one of the old settlers and 
pioneers of the northeastern portion of 
Pojie county, is a resident of section 19, 
Leven township, where he located in 1S('>7. 
He is a native of Ireland, where he was 
born in 1825, and is a son of James and 
Jane (Donaldson) Blair. When he was only 
seven years of age his parents removed with 
their family to Canada, where the father 
died shortly afterward. The mother lived 
there until the time of her de:ith, in 1883. 
The parents had a family of tive children, 
as follows — John, James, AVilliam, Samuel 
and Jane, all of whom are living except 
John, wiio died in Haron county, Canada, 
when thirty-seven years of age, leaving a 
family consisting of a wife and four chil- 
dr(»n. 

James lilair, our subject, spent his boy- 
hood davsand received his education in Can- 
ada. When twent3'-one years of age he be- 



226 



POPE COVNTW M/XXESOTA. 



gan life on his own account and engaged in 
farming. Later lie purchased a farm in 
Canada, which he cultivated for a number of 
years. In 1867 he sold out and came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, locating upon a 
claim on sections 19 and 30, Leven town- 
shij), where he has since lived. He now has 
one of the best farms in the county and 
carries on farming and stock-raising exten- 
sively. He is in excellent circumstances 
financially, owning about -100 acres of land, 
and is rated as one of the most solid and 
substantial farmers in the county. 

Mr. Blair was married in 1845 to Miss 
Eliza Jane Peacock, a native of Canada, and 
a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Peacock. 
They have been the parents of ten children, 
eight of whom are still living — Jane, Re- 
becca. Margaret, John, William, James, Sam- 
uel and George. Those deceased were 
named Josepli and Lizzie. 

The family are exein])larv members of the 
Episcopal Church. Li his political views 
Mr. Blair affiliates with the democratic 
party. 

■ • ■' > ■ ■ 

S^'t-^^HARLES ELLERTSON, a successful and 
enterprising farmer and stock-raiser, 
residing on section 13, Langhei township, is 
one of tiie pioneers of the southwestern part 
of the county, being among the very first 
settlers in what is now the town of Langhei. 
Mr. Ellertson was born in the northern 
part of Norway, on the 11th of August, 184(5, 
and is a son of Ellert and Runog (Olsondat- 
ter) Carlson. His mother died in the old 
country in 1863, and during the following 
year the father, accompanied by tiie rest of 
the famih', sailed for America, and after a 
voyage of five weeks across the Atlantic they 
landed in Quebec, Canada. They at once 
came to La Crosse county, Wisconsin, wiiere 
they lived for two years and then in 1866, 



they came to Pope county, Minnesota, and 
settled on section 13, Langhei township. 
They were among the first settlers here, com- 
ing at the same time as did G. and Osmund 
Tharaldson. The father, Ellert Carlson, 
died here in 1871. At that time he was 
tiftv-nine years of age. He had for many 
}'ears been an exemplary member of the 
Lutheran Church, and had held various offices 
in that organization in his native land. 
Fanning had been his pi'incipal business 
through life, although when a young man he 
had learned the blacksmith's and carpenters 
trades and had worked at these lines a good 
deal, in connection with farming. Ellert 
Carlson was the father of seven children, as 
follows — Anna, Lars, Charles, Edward, Ee- 
gina Dortlia and Martha — all of whom are 
married except the last named. Regina 
lives in Stearns county, Dortha lives in 
Stevens county, while the rest are residents 
of Pope county. 

Chai'les Ellertson grew to manhood and. 
was educated in the land of his birth. He 
came here, as above stated, with his father, 
and lias since been a resident of Pope county. 
In 1884 he engaged in general merchandise 
business at Starl)uck in company with Gus 
Signalness, but after a year he bought out 
his partner's interest, antl for one jear con- 
ducted the business alone. During this time 
he took an active interest in public affairs, 
was one of the village trustees, school direct- 
or and also deputy ])ostniaster for two 
years. Since that time he has devoted his 
attention to farming and stock-raising. He 
has one of the most valuable farms in the 
township, and is recognized as one of the 
most substantial and solid citizens in the 
southwestern part of the county. 

Mr. Ellertson was married in January, 
1876, to Miss Anna Isaacson, and they are 
the parents of live children, as follows — 
Emma, Sevirne. Carolina, Thea and P'red- 
chester. Mrs. Ellertson was born in Nor- 



rorE couxTY, Minnesota. 



227 



way and came to the United States in 1872, 
witii \wv people, wiio at that time settUnl in 
Langliei township. Her i)arents are still 
living here. In the family of her parents 
there were foni- children — Anna, Mary, Sina 
and John. 



-'^^'^- 



>|pj|vENRY JOHNSON SANDVIG.the sub- 
^^'Jl. ject of the present article, is a prom- 
inent resident of the southeastern part of 
Pope county, his farm being located on the 
line between Gilchrist and Lake Jolianna 
townships. lie was the Hrst chikl born 
witliin the limits of Pope county, having lirst 
seen the light January 17, 1863, his birth oc- 
curring on the very day that his ])arents 
arrived here. His parents, .John and Isa- 
belle (Olson) Johnson, who ai-e natives of 
Norway, came to the United States in 1852, 
and settled in Wisconsin, whore they re- 
mained two years. They then came to 
Stearns county, Minnesota, and in 1SG3 thev 
moved to Pope county, Minnesota. His 
fatlier was one of the earliest settlers in the 
county, and has been one of Pope county's 
most prominent citizens. Our subject has 
the following brothers and sisters — Isabelle, 
Ole, Ciirist, Knute, Elizebeth and Anna. He 
was educated in Pope county, and has always 
been engaged as a farmer, working at that 
occupation during the summer and attending 
school in the winter until he finished his 
sciiooling. 

Mr. Sandvig was married, June 24, 1885, 
in the Lutheran church in Gilchrist, b}^ liev. 
Scaar, to Miss Isabelle Christc'iison, a native 
of Goodhue county, Minnesota, ;uid they 
have l)een blessed with two children — Amelia 
and Jose])hine. She is the tlaughter of Nels 
and Paulina Christenson, who are living in 
Lake Johanna township. She was educated 
in Pope county, and has four brothers and 
sisters, she being the oldest. Our subject is 



a ]ironiinent man in his' township, and has 
held the office of ])ostmaster since 1888. suc- 
ceeding his father, who held that position 
for a great many years. He has an extensive 
farm of 400 acres. The place is well iiu- 
proved and he is engaged in genei-al farming 
and stock-raising. In political mattei's lie is 
a republican. 

■ • ■» > •i^i^'-^— ^ 

1B)ETER ERICKSON is a prosperous citi- 
W~ zen of Pope county, located on sec- 
tion 21, Lake Johanna township, where he is 
engaged in general farming and stock-ivais- 
ing. He is a native of Norway, born in the 
western part of that kingdom,August 3,1835 
and is a son of Erick and Tora (Erickson) 
Knuteson, who were natives of that king- 
dom. He came to this countrv in 1867. and. 
after landing in Quebec, Canada, went to 
Green county, Wisconsin, where he i-cmained 
for several years, engaged in farming, and. lor 
some time was engaged as teacher in a Noi-- 
wegian school in that place. He came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and took his pres- 
ent farm, on which he has since remained. 
Our subject is a prominent man of his town- 
ship, and has filled the following offices 

postmaster, constable, treasurer, school treas- 
urer, and assessor. 

His father was engaged in fanning, and 
there were the following children in the par- 
ents' family — Knute, Nerod, Anna and 
Peter, all of whom are living cxcejit Knute. 
Peter spent his school days in his native 
laml, and during the summer he worked on 
his father's farm. 

Mr. Erickson was united in marriage, P'eb- 
ruary 5, 1S6S, to Miss Anna Olson, a native 
of the kingdom of Norway, who came to tin's 
country when she was four years of age witli 
her parents, who settled in Wisconsin. Thev 
have been blessed with ten children — Ed- 
ward, Henry, Severt, Anton, Cai-aline, 



22S 



POPE COUiVTY, A//jVX/:SOTA. 



Charley, Lizzie and Peter — all of whom are 
single and at home with tlieir parents — and 
Martin and Albert who are dead. Our sub- 
ject has a farm of 1S3 acres, a good share of 
which is under a high state of cultivation, 
and has eigliteen acres of timber land. lie 
and iiis family are exemj^lary members of 
the Lutheran Church, of which organization 
he is secretary. In ])olitical matters he affili- 
ates with the rejniblican party. 



John E. JOHNSON, a prosperous and 
Jj hio-hlv-esteemed farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 7, Blue Mounds townsliip, is a native 
of Norway, born in Gulbrandsdalen, Febru- 
ary 2.5, 1853. lie came to the United States 
with his parents and one sister in 1857, and 
after landing in Quebec, Canada, came to 
Coon Prairie, Wisconsin, where they re- 
mained a few months, then moved to LTpper 
Coon Valley, a distance of eight miles. Later, 
our subject came to Pope county, Minnesota, 
and settled on his present place, having pi*e- 
viously purchased eighty acres of railroad 
land. He now has an extensive farm of 280 
acres. He is now engaged in general farm- 
ing and stock-raising, has quite a number of 
graded cattle, a full-blooded Durham bull, a 
" Clyde and Black Hawk" stallion and good 
building imjirovements. Mr. Jolmson is at 
present tiie ciiairman of tlie boai'd of super- 
visors, which position he has held for five 
years, and in political matters is a repub- 
lican. He received his education in Wiscon- 
sin, and after leaving school read medicine 
with Dr. Aass, of Coon Prairie, AYisconsin, 
for two yeai's, and has been engaged more 
or less in this profession in connection with 
farming. His parents remained in AVisconsin 
until 1884, when they came to Pope county, 
settling on a farm in Blue Mounds township. 
The mother was killed by lightning in 1885. 
There were six chihh'en in the house besides 



the mother, the shock rendering two uncon- 
scious and instantly killing the mother. She 
was buried in Walden township. The father 
is still residing on his farm in Blue Mounds 
township. The father was a Union soldier. 
He enlisted in lS6-t, and was discharged in 
1865, and was with Sherman in his " march 
to the sea." 

Mr. Jolinson was married in January, 1875, 
to Miss Agnes Peterson, and tlie\' have been 
blessed with the following children — Edwin, 
Tonethe, Peter, Pettrene and Anna. Mrs. 
Johnson is a native of Norwaj', born July 7, 
1855, and came to the United States in 1861, 
with her ]iarents, and settled in La Crosse, 
Wisconsin. Hei* father is dead and her 
mother is living witli lier. Mrs. Johnson 
was educated in Norway, and they were 
two months in making the trip ci'ossing the 
ocean. Our subject has the following broth- 
ers and sisters — Mary, Martha, Tobias, An- 
di-ew, Dinah, Ida, Ellen, Anna (who died in 
cliildhood, and a \'ounger sister was given, 
the same name), Edward and Thea. 



/^\'-v\LE DAVIDSON, a prosperous and 
x^iX highly esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, resides on section 26, Rolling Fork 
township. He was iiorn in Nor Fure, Nor- 
way, April 5, 1831, and is a son of David 
Rasmusson and Anna Burwald, who are 
natives of that kingchjm. He remained at 
home until he was nineteen, when he worked 
for farmers for six 3'ears, after which he 
learned the carpenter's trade. He built two 
large churches in the Old World. In 1861 
he came to the United States, and settled in 
Dane county, Wisconsin, where he worked 
a farm on shares for half. After leavmg 
there, he went to Columbia county, Wiscon- 
sin, where he rented a farm and remained 
seven years. He then came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and bought 360 acres of land in 



rOPE COVXTY, Mlh'XE^OTA. 



229 



Rolling Fork townslii]). on section 26. Since 
his settlointMit, iu' lias beon engaged in gen- 
eral fanning ami stock-raising, also lias <lone 
some carpentering, and has been very success- 
ful, with the exception of losing one crop by 
the grasshoppei-s. Mr. Davidson is a man of 
the utmost integrity and honor, and has been 
township treasurer for three or four years, 
also church treasurer, always taking an active 
interest in public affairs. 

Our subject was married in IStJl, to Miss 
Segra Nels, and they have been blessed with 
the following children — Anna, David, Nels, 
Olaus, Regena (deceased), Raynard, Jose- 
phina and Die S. The family are exemplary 
members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church. 

^M^BRAHAM COOKE, a prosperous and 
J^jL well-to-do farmer, resides on section 
22, Walden township. He is a native of 
New Jersey, born December 28, 1844. lie 
is the son of (xarrett and Mary (^fackey) 
Cooke. lie received his education in the 
common district schools, but lie is one of 
those energetic men, self-made, who will 
make their own way in the world, not- 
withstanding obstacles. When our sub- 
ject was nine years old his father moved to 
Wabasha countv, Minnesota, and took a 
preemption in the tow'n of Greenfield, where 
he now resides 

Abraham worked on the home farm until 
1864, when he enlisted in Company I, Third 
Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and after 
serving one year was honorably discharged 
at St. Paul. His company was a part of the 
Seventh Army Corps. 

After the war the subject of our sketch 
returned to the fai'm, where hereuuiined un- 
til 1870, when he came to Pope county, Min- 
nesota, and took a homestead of 160 acres in 
section 22, Walden township, his present 
residence. 



Mr. Cooke was married, December 22, 
1870, to 'Miss Rosette Bishop, of Greenville, 
and this union has been blessed with the fol- 
lowing children — Walter, Lizzie, Garrett, 
Arba, Ruth, Rlioda and (ieorge. Riioda 
and George are deceased. Our subject has, 
since his settlement here, bought forty acres 
of land in section 21, and this, with his orig- 
inal claim gives him a large and valuable 
farm. Mr. Cooke is a man of the utmost in- 
tegrity and honor, and adheres to those prin- 
ciples, which make a citizen esteemed and 
respected. In political matters he is a 
staunch and conscientious republican. 

|OHN JOHNSON ROTTO, a prominent 
and respected citizen of Poj)e county, 
is a resident of section 2, Noi'a township. 
He is a native of Norway, born at Thron- 
hjem, July 30, 1841, and is a son of John 
and Anna (Johnson) Rotto, wiio were also 
natives of Norway. He lived at home and 
went to school until he was about eighteen 
years of age, when he learned the tailor's 
trade, which he followed for five years, then 
learned the carpenter's trade, which he en- 
gaged in for a period of two \'ears. He then 
came to the United States, and, after stop- 
ping in La Crosse. Wisconsin, for about one 
month, he went some thirty miles above 
^Minneapolis, Minnesota, and worked on the 
railroad for two months. He next came to 
Glenwood, Minnesota, where lie was occu- 
pied for three years in the carpenter's trade. 
He then took a homestead in Nora township 
on section 2, where he has since renuiined. 

Our subject was married to Miss Mar}' 
Peterson, May 10, 1871, and this union has 
been blessed with the following children — 
John C, Anna J., Ida C, Emma L., Carrie, 
Knute, Mali and Julius. His wife is the 
daughter of Clausand Carrie Peterson. The 
subject of this sketch has a brother living in 



230 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



Nora, and his sister, Mali, who is now de- 
ceased, was married to John Anderson, a 
farmer of Nora. 

Mr. Kotto is a man of iionor and integrity, 
hio-hly esteemed by all who know him, and 
has held the position of school director for a 
number of years. He is in comfortable cir- 
cumstances, has a well-improved farm of 
200 acres, neat and substantial buildings, 
nestled in a dense grove of his planting. In 
political matters he is a staunch repuljlican. 



^^►. 



fQ. HOOK is one of the best known cit- 
izens of Glenwood village. He is a na- 
tive of Bracken county, Kentucky, born 
October 10, 18-15, and a son of Stephen and 
Nancy (Heck) Hook. His grandi)ai'ents 
on his father's side were Colonel John ami 
Hannah Hook, who. with two or three 
others, were the first pioneers of Bracken 
county, Kentucky. The first log cabin, which 
they built, still stands, and makes a great con- 
trast with the later improvements, as it is 
only 12x16 feet in size, with the old-time 
fireplace, and has never had a pane of glass 
in it. Colonel John Hook was a soldier in the 
War of 1812, in which he rose to the rank of 
colonel. He was an extensive farmer, be- 
coming p(jssessed of some 2,000 acres of land, 
antl lived long enough to see the most of it 
cleared. Stephen Hook, the father of our 
subject, was born on his father's plantation, 
and became an extensive farmer there and a 
prominent man. 

J. Q. Hook, our subject, was born on the 
farm which had descended from his grand- 
father, and was reared there, remaining un- 
til he was twenty-seven years of age. In 
the mean time he had taken a course at Au- 
o-usta College, and in 1867 he came to Minne- 
sota, and taught a six months' term of school 
near Cannon Falls, Goodhue county. He 
then returned to Kentucky, and was engaged 



in farming until 1876, when he took up the 
tobacco commission business, which lie fol- 
lowed for two years. He was then engaged 
in the grocery and hardware business in Au- 
gusta for three years. In 1881 he sold out 
his interests there, spent the summer in 
Glenwood, Minnesota, and, being pleased 
with the countrj' and its prospects, he deter- 
mined to settle here. He accordingly re- 
turned to Kentucky to close up his affairs, 
and in the spring of 1882 he located at Glen- 
wood. The previous year he had purchased 
480 acres of land in Glenwood and Leven 
townships, which he has since managed, al- 
though his residence has been in the village. 
He has extensive property interests in the 
village and a jdeasant home on the banks of 
Lake Minnewaska. During the summer sea- 
son he devotes a good deal of attention to 
the wants of summer tourists, and has an ex- 
tensive fleet of boats, including a small 
steamer, a sail boat, and ten row boats. 
Genial and intelligent, a man of the strictest 
integrity, he has made many warm friends 
during his residence here, and is rated as one 
of the leading and most substantial business 
men of the county seat. Mr. Hook is a dem- 
ocrat in his political views, and is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity. 

In 1885 our subject was married to ]\Iiss 
Dora Leidholm, a native of Sweden, and 
only daughter of Samuel and Mary (Daniel- 
son) Leidholm. Her father died in his na- 
tive land, and she was brought to the LTnited 
States by her widowetl mother when less 
tiian a year old. 



%X#'lLLiAM ANDREW, one of Pope 



county's most substantial antl high- 
ly respected farmers, is a resident of section 
21, Keno township. He was born in Bide- 
ford, Devonshire, England, on the 14th of 
May, 1838, and is a son of William and Mary 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



231 



Ann (Flexman) Andrew. The family came 
to Canada in ISoO, and located at Toronto, in 
York county. Two years later they re- 
moved to Huron county, in Canada "West, 
where the mother died in 1854. Tlie fatlier 
died thereabout ISTS. He was born in 1S05, 
and had been a farmer through life. The 
parents raised a family of four sons and six 
daugliters — Edmund, John F., Mary A., 
Caroline, William, Elizabeth, Sarah .!., Alice, 
Isabella and Job, all of whom arc living. 
The father lived to see his children all grow 
up, marry and raise families, and did not 
live to have tiie knowledge of a single death 
in the families of his chililren. Three of the 
children, beside our subject, are residents of 
Pope county — Job, a farmer; Alice, now 
Mi-s. Eli win Cox, of whom a sketch a})pears 
elsewhere in this Alhv.m; and Isabella, wife 
of John Pennington, a farmer of Renotown- 
sliip. 

William Andrew, our subject, grew to 
manhood and received his education in 
Huron county, Canada. Farming has been 
his jjrincipal vocation through life. He re- 
mained at home with his father until he had 
readied the age of twenty-seven years, when 
he was married. lie then purcliased a farm 
in Canaiia and engaged in farming on liis 
own account. In the fall of ls80, he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and located upon 
a farm in Reno township, where he still lives. 
He has one of the most valuable farms in 
the county and successfully devotes his at- 
tention to general farming and stock-raising. 

Mr. Andrew was married in Canada, on 
the 9tii of November, 1865, to Miss Marga- 
ret Gardner. She was a native of Ireland, 
but was brought up in Canada whither her 
parents had removed when she was an infant. 
Iler father was Henry Gardner. 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew iuive been the par- 
ents of ten ciiildren —William (deceased). 
Henry G., Ann, Maria J.. Alice, I]lizai)eth, 
Emma, Mary, Isabella C. and Sarah, all of 



whom are living exce])t William, the fii-st 
named. William was born in Huron county, 
Canada, January 5, 1867, and died at the 
home of his parents, in Reno townshi]-). Pope 
county, Minnesota, in 1888. He was a 
young man of great ]>romise, and his death 
was a sad blow to his parents and a wide 
circle of friends. A young man of the 
strictest integrity, he had the esteem of all 
who knew him. 

In political matters Vly. Andrew affiliates 
with no particulai' })arty, but is independent 
in his views. 



.-^^ 



/S^ LEF GUNDERSON, a respectable and 
vS" well-to-do farmer, residing on section 
»!, Hoff township, was born in Norway, in 
November. 1822, and is a son of Gunder and 
Carrie (Ellefsdatter) Olson. The parents 
both died in the old country. They hail t wo 
sons— Ole and Elef. 

Elef Gunderson, our subject, grew to man- 
hood in the land of his birth, imbibing the 
same principles of industry, economy and 
thrift which are so characteristic of the race 
from which he springs. On the 26th of 
October, 1853, he was mai-ried to Miss Bertha 
Olson, a native of the same land. On the 
3rd of July, 1868, Mr. Gunderson. with his 
family, arrived in the United States, landing 
in New York city. They at once came 
West, and settled at Albert Lea, Freeborn 
county, Minnesota. Five years later they 
removed to Fox Lake, Minnesota, where 
they were engaged in farming for eleven 
years. In Septembei-, 1883. they came to 
Pojie county, Minnesota, and ]\fr. Gunderson 
purchased his jiresent farm of Kit) acres, on 
section 6, Hoff township. He is engaged in 
diversified farming and stock-raising, and 
has been very successful. 

Mrs. Guiulerson was born in Norway, 
February 26, 1835, and was a daughter of 



232 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Ole Anienson. Mr. and ISIrs. Gunderson 
have been the j)arents of eleven children — 
Ole, Edward, Carrie, Lizzie, Carl, Gilbert 
and Ella, all living; and Mary, Carrie, 
Gunder and Elef, who are dead. Carrie mai'- 
ried C. W. Comstock,» a farmer in iStevens 
county ; and Ole married Mattie Elliott, and 
is engaged at tailoring in Faribault. 

The family are exemplary and respected 
members of the Lutheran Chui'ch. In polit- 
ical matters our suljject affiliates with the 
republican party. lie is a man of the 
strictest integrity, and stands high as a 
citizen in the community in which he lives. 



^^NGEBRET O. FOSS, who carries on a 
x^? blacksmith and repciir shop at the 
village of Brooten, Stearns county, is one of 
the representative citizens of the locality in 
which he lives. Born December 8, 1848, in 
Norway, he was raised to manhood there, 
and imbibed those well known habits of in- 
dustry, integrity and economy, which are so 
characteristic of his race. lie received a 
good education in his native land, supple- 
menting it with a course of about three years 
in the high schools. While still a lad he 
learned the blacksmith's trade from his 
father, who was also a blacksmitii, and Enge- 
bret has followed that calling through life. 
In June, 1883, our subject came to the United 
States, landing at Castle Garden, New ^'ork 
City, and proceeded at once to Minnesota. 
In the fall of 1887 he came to Brooten and 
has since carried on business at that place. 
He is an excellent workman, anddoesa laree 
business. 

Mr. Foss was married in 1870 to Miss 
Marv Hanson, a native of Norway, and their 
marriage has been blessed with six children, 
whose names are as follows — Ole, Jfary, 
Hans, Inwald, Iven and Oscai'. The familv 



are exemplary members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

In political matters Mr. Foss is a supporter 
of the principles advocated by the republican 
party. 



W' 



E-HURSTON A. BENTERUD, who is a 
successful farmer of section 31, Glen- 
wood township, was born in Norway, Feb- 
ruary 6, 1845. He is the son of Andrewson 
II. and Rosa (Thortenson) Benterud, also na- 
tives of Norw^ay. They were farmers and 
came to America in 1 851, settling in Rock 
county, Wisconsin, where the father worked 
a farm for three years. In 1855 x\ndrewson 
H. Benterud moved to Mitchell county, 
Iowa, and there remained as a farmer until 
his death, in 186(5. The mother is still liv- 
ing in Iowa — over ninety years old. Her 
husband was one of the most extensive 
farmers of that county. He was a man of 
note and much influence ; he, together with 
his family, belonged to the Lutheran Church. 
He helped to build a tine church edifice in 
Mitchell county, Iowa, and ever took an 
active part in church and school work, lie 
was much beloved for his honesty and kin- 
dred Christian principles. He had six chil- 
dren, two sons and four daughters — Betsey, 
now Mrs. Goldberg; Mattie, now Mrs. Cul- 
bortson ; Kirste, no\y Mrs. Lien ; Halver A., 
now dead, Thurston A., and Julia, now Mrs. 
Oleson. 

Thurston A., subject of this sketch, was 
reared on his father's farm in Norway, until 
six years old, then came with his parents to 
America. He remained at home until fif- 
teen yeai's old, receiving a common school 
education. He then clerked in a store at 
Kasson, Minnesota. September 13, 1866, he 
filed an apjilication in the land office at St. 
Cloud for ir.d acres of land in section 30, in 
the townshij) of Chippewa Falls, Pope 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



233 



county. He afterward })urcliasecl forty iicres 
adjoining tliis tract. On tliis farm he built 
a fine franu? house, and generally improved 
the premises and raised stock and grain, 
lie remained there until 1878. tiien sold out 
and purchased IGT acres of [)rairie land and 
live acres of wood land, where he now lives. 
Tills place is finely improved, containing 
good buiklings, fencing and a fine growth of 
trees. He keeps considerable stock, and is 
one of the most extensive farmers in the 
county. 

Mr. Benterud was united in marriage to 
Miss Caroline Oleson in 1807. She was a 
native of Norwiw and ihe daughter of Olliol 
Oleson. The}"^ have a family of eight living- 
children, and two dead — Amelia C. now 
Mi-s. Dalager; Julia R., Lillie O., Agusta M., 
Carl O., Andrew W., Tiieodore A., GodweJl 
W., Hilda and Christian. x\gusta and 
Christian are now deceased. In politics our 
subject is an indepon<lci)t. He has been 
supervisor antl also clerk of the school board. 
Like most of his fellow countrymen, he and 
his wortlu- household are devoted and con- 
scientious mcTubers of the Lutheran Church. 
He has aided in building a church, ami is 
at present a trustee of the organization to 
which ho belongs. 



•«"J^^-^' 



I^LE H. HOLEN, the subject of this 
sketch, is otu! of Pope county's most 
prosperous and highly esteemed citizens. He 
resides on section -23, I'en Wade township. 
He is a native of Norway, born at fliudbran- 
dalen, July 24, 1860, where he lived with his 
jiarents. Ole ami Mary (Tordhol) llolen, 
until 1S73. He then came to the United 
States. On coming here he, with his brothei-, 
settled in Tope county, Minnesota, on sec- 
tion •!'?,, in the township of Hen Wade, where 
they at ]iicsent reside. Our subject owns 
forty acres,and tlicy own together 2U0 acres, 



with good improvements — a commodious 
barn, with stone basement, well stocked with 
horses. 20 head of cattle, etc., etc. Their 
father is dead, and their mother keeps house 
for them. They have three brothers^Ed. 
0., John and Thomas. Ed. is a clerk in a 
store in Lowry. John is in the old country, 
and Thomas runs a store in Nelson, Douglas 
county, Minnesota. Our subject has three 
sisters — Carrie, married to Tver J. Tei'i-en. 
living in Ben AVade township ; Jennie, mar- 
ried to Lewis Jacobson, living in Alexandria, 
Minnesota; Mary, married to Ole Jacobson 
living in Ben Wade townshi]). Mr. Holen 
clerked for a time in his brother's store, in 
Douglas county. He is a republican in his 
political belief. 



--^ 



Ajj^ENRY STENSON, the heaviest dealer 
L'^*2L in general merchandise at Starbuck, is 
one of the most successful and capable busi- 
ness men in Pope county, and one of the 
most prominent citizens in the locality in 
which he lives. A man of the strictest in- 
tegrity, he is, although not an old settler, 
well-known throughout the noi-tliern part of 
the county, and his word is recognized as 
being as good as a bond. 

Mr. Stenson was born in Dodge count\', 
Wisconsin, on the 21st of November, 1854. 
He was reared on a farm, receiving an excel- 
lent education under tlio efficient common 
school system of his native State. When he 
hatl arrived at the age of twenty-one years 
he began life on his own account by teacii- 
ing school. He came to Minnesota in 187»>, 
and for several years followed the ])rofession 
of a school teacher in Goodhue and Bice 
counties. In the spring of 1870 he settled 
at Sacred Heart, Renville county, and estab- 
lished a general nuMchandise store. In the 
fall of ISSO he was married at that place to 
Miss Annie P. Berg. He continued in trade 



23-1 



POPE COUNTY. MI.V.VESOTA 



at Sacred Heart until the spring of 1887, 
when lie sold out and located at Minneapo- 
lis, where he was engaged in the real estate 
business until the following fall. At the ex- 
piration of that time he came to Starbuck, 
Pope county, and l)ought out the general 
store of Ronning & Engebretson, which he 
lias since successfully conducted. Pie is now 
the most extensive dealer in the place, and 
his stock includes a full line of ready-made 
clothing, dry goods, notions, millinery goods, 
hats, caps, gents' furnishing goods, boots, 
shoes, groceries, crockery, glassware, trunks, 
etc. In connection he does an extensive 
produce exchange business. He is also in- 
terested in the grocerv trade at West Su- 
perior, where he has a half interest in the 
store of Ronning & Stenson. 

Mr. Stenson has always taken a leading 
and prominent ]iart in all ])ublic affairs, 
and is at present a member of the village 
council of Starbuck. "VVliile living in Sacred 
Heart he was one of its most prominent cit- 
izens aud serveil for several years on the vil- 
lage council, antl a portion of the time as 
president of that body. 



— ««: 



J^ICHAEL RILEY, a prominent old 
ls\.is\ settler and the most extensive land 
owner and farmer in the northeastern part 
of the county, is a resident of section 11, 
Grove Lake township. He was born in Ire- 
land, in 1832, and is the son of Charles and 
Mary (Cole) Ililey, also natives of the 
" Emeraki Isle." His parents were farmers, 
and lived and died in the land of their nativ- 
ity. They both died about the same time, 
in 1851. They had a family of the follow- 
ing childi'en — Charles, John, Miciiael; ilary, 
now Mrs. Smith ; Catharine, now Mrs. Kear- 
nan; Sarah, now Mrs. Smith : i'atrick, Ed- 
ward ; ami Annie, now Mrs. O'Diien. 
Our subject remained at home until fif- 



teen years of age, receiving a common school 
education. At about that time he came to 
America, landing in Xew York, in 1817 and 
remained one 3'ear with an uncle. From 
there lie went to Newburgh, Orange county, 
New York, where he worked on a farm eight 
years, and clerked in a store for about one 
yeai'. He then went to Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was brakeman on a 
railroad for four \ears. In 1860, he came to 
Hastings, Minnesota, and worked in a sawmill 
one year, then went to Sibley county, Minne- 
sota, engaging in farming. There he liought 
220 acres of wild land, which he improved. 
In 1868, he sold out and came to Pope county, 
settling where he now lives. He here 
homesteaded 160 acres, and has since })ur- 
chased 840 acres adjoining, making an 
even 1,000 acres of lanti, the argest farm in 
the entire township. He first built a log 
house, 16x20 feet in size, and lived in it for 
fifteen yeai's, when he built his present fine 
house, at a cost of §1,800. He also has a 
good l)arn, built at a cost of $600. His im- 
provements are of the most excellent charac- 
ter, throughout. He is an excellent man- 
ager, and is one of the most successful farm- 
ers in this ]mrt of the State. 

In 1862 he was married to Miss Mary 
Brown, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania. She was the daughter of Thomas 
and Sarah (McManus) Brown, natives of 
Ireland. Mr. Riley has had a famih' of ten 
children, eight of whom are living. The 
names of the children were as follows — 
Katie, now Mi-s. Soule; Mary, a grailuate of 
the St. Cloud Normal School ; Charles, Sarah, 
Belle, Francis,Willie.Lewis. Annie and Emily. 

In his political belief Mr. Riley is a demo- 
crat. He has been postmaster and school 
treasurer for several years. He and his 
household belong to the Roman Catholic 
Church. He has given all of his family a 
lil)eral eilucation. some of the children being 
sch(jol teachers. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



235 



pS^II.FRT KOEFOD, register of deeds, 
^^^ and one of the most jironiinent and 
capable \'oiing business men in Pope county, 
is a native of Norway, born INIarcb 12. 1SG5, 
and is a son of Hans and IMariah (Tollefson) 
Koefod, wbo were also natives of the same 
kingdom. Ilis father was aijent for a com- 
mission iiouse in his native land. The par- 
ents and family came to tiie United States in 
1S82, and settled at Glenwond, Pope count}', 
Minnesota, where the fatiier died during the 
same year. IFe was a man of ability ; a 
member of tli(> I>utlu'ran Clinrcii, and was 
held in high esteem i)y all who knew him. 
The widow still lives in Glenwood, making 
her home with her son Eileit. Hans Koefod 
and wife were the iiarents of twelve chil- 
dren, eight of wiiom are now living — Rev. 
Hans O.. of Glenwood ; Rev. Magnus, of 
White Bear I>ake township; Hennnig T., a 
mail agent in Xorwa\' ; Eilert, the subject of 
this memoir ; Ilansine, now Mrs. Aage Peter- 
son ; Ililma, wife of Hon. M. A. Wollan ; 
John C, a collecting agent, at Glenwood ; 
and Lawrence, a druggist, at Glenwood. 

Eilert Koefod received an excellent educa- 
tion in institutions of high rank in the land 
(jf his ijirtli. He attended llie common 
schools from the time he was six until he was 
ten yeai's of age, and supplemented this by 
attending the l>atin or grammar school until 
he was sixteen, when he was graduated. 
Fourteen davs after finishinjr his schoolin";- 
he sailed for the United States, making his 
way directly to Pope county, .Minnescjta. 
Shortly aftei- ai'riving here, he commenced 
clerking in the hardware store of Riggs Bro- 
thers, at Glenwood, remaining with them for 
two years. At the expiration of that time he 
accepted a position as clerk in the county audi- 
tor's office, in which he was en";ao;ed until 
lie assumed the duties of the office of reffis- 
ter of deeds, January 1, 1887, having been 
elected to that office in the preceding fall. 
He is a careful and pains-taking official, an 



excellent penman, and his management of 
the office has been highly creditable to him- 
self and satisfactory to all concerned. Mr. 
Keofod has substantial i)roperty interests in 
the county, having recently jmrchased a 
house and lot in the village, and also owns a 
farm in Bangor township. 

Our subject was mari'ied in 1887 to Miss 
Clara Rigg, daughter of Ole Rigg, Sr., of 
Minnewaska township. Their family con- 
sists of one son, Hchuci' O. Mr. Koefod and 
wife are active members of the Lutheran 
Church. In political matters he isastaunch 
republican. 



-.^« 



«4^> 



^^^USAN BARSNESS. residing on .section 
'^^3) 13, Barsness township, is the widow of 
Hon. Ole N. Barsness, one of the most con- 
spicuous figures in the history of J'ope 
county. Ole N. Barsness was a native of 
Norway, born November 20, 1844. Ih^ set- 
tled in Pope county in 18G5, and always took 
an active and prominent part in all public 
affairs. At one time he went to Norway in 
the interest of the Emigrant Association, 
having a free jjass, and remained there for 
five months. In 1879 he was elected to the 
Legislature as a representative from Pope 
county, and made a ci'cditable record. 

His first wife was Isabel le Simonson, to 
whom he was married, December 23, 1871, 
and tliey were blessed with three children — 
Nellie, Simon and Oscar. Mrs. (Isabelle) 
Barsness died Feln-uaiy 4, 1878. J\Ir. Bars- 
ness married his second wife, the subject of 
our sketch, September 16, 1879. The^' were 
blessed with two children — Omer Clarence 
and Omanda. Mr. Bai-sness was a man of 
more than ordinary business abilit\' and was 
highly esteemed by all who knew him. He 
held the agency of the Ilakhi Insurance Com- 
l)any, as well as of several first-class steam- 
ship lines. He also devoted considerable at- 



236 



POPF. COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



tention to loaning money iiiul to the real 
estate and farm machinery business. He 
died February 16, 1882. 

Mrs. Susan Barsness, the subject of our 
sketch, is a daughter of Ole and Julia Ander- 
son, and was born in Albion, Dane county, 
Wisconsin, September 27, 1854. She lived 
witii iier parents until iier marriage. She 
was left in comfortable circumstances on the 
deatli of her husband, he leaving her three 
excellent farms and a comfortable residence 
on Lake Ben. 

She is an exemplary mendjer of the Nor- 
wegian Lutheran Church. 



[ens SOLHAUG, who is a farmer on sec. 
tion s, of Minnewaska townshi]), is a na- 
tive of Norway. Lie was born May ' 20, 
184:7, and is a son of Jens and Karen (Dor- 
thea) Solhaug, who were also natives of Nor- 
way, the father having been born in 1808 
and the mother in 1814. They followed 
the occupation of farmers througliout life. 
The father was overseer of the poor, and 
was held in high esteem by his fellow coun- 
trvmen. \\\ size he was tall and heavy, 
weighing upward of 2.50 pounds. They 
were consistent members of the Lutheran 
Church, and ever took an active interest 
in both church and school matters. He was 
at one time deacon of the church for some 
years. They were blessed w^ith two sons 
and one daughter — Anders Nicolai, a far- 
mer in Pierce county, Wisconsin; Anna 
Johanna, now Mrs. A. Eliassen, of Hemness 
Prestegjeld, Norway ; and Jens. Mrs. Sol- 
haug was married, previous to her marriage 
to Mr. Solhaug, to Andrew Nilson, by whom 
she had three ciiildren — Olava, now Mrs. 
Peterson, of Norway; Christine (unmarried), 
in Norway; Samuel (married), now in Men- 
nomonee, Wisconsin, engaged in the lumber 
business. 



Jens, the subject of tiiis sketcli, like most 
of the settlers of Northern Minnesota, was 
brought up to farm labor, and attended 
school three months each year from tlietime 
he was ten until he was fifteen years of age, 
remaining at home until nineteen years old. 
He herded cattle and sheep on the beautiful 
mountains of Norway for his father for five 
years, going out at six in the morning and 
returning at night, being frequently seven 
English miles from home. When nineteen 
years old he possessed a fair education 
through dint of hard study. He, witii others 
of his fellow countrymen, decided to leave 
their native land and seek for tliemselves a 
home in the western world. This was a 
grand adventure for one who had never 
been away from his home. After landing 
upon American soil he was delighted with 
our country and its chances for obtain- 
ing good homes. Yet, witli all that was 
charming, tliere came homesick days — he 
was in a strange, foreign land, among those, 
who used another language. At Rushford. 
Fillmore county, Minnesota, he was taken 
sick, two weeks after having landed upon 
our shores, in 1866, having first stopped at 
Quebec for a short time. He was prostrate 
with a fever for over four long and weary 
weeks. After regaining strength he went 
into the country, and hired out to a farmer 
for one month for twelve dollars. A day or 
so before this month was out, a Ijoy named 
Dan Cliisholm. from near Itushford, came 
along and hired him to husk corn at sixteen 
dollars per month. Tlie family where he 
woi'ked treated him like their own son, 
teaching him, after his day's work was 
ended, grammar and reading ; also teaching 
him the ways and customs of our country, 
which kindness, he says, time can never make 
dim to bis heart. From this time on he 
seemed better fitted to cope with the ways 
of his newly found home. He remained in 
Fillmore county and worked for the farmers 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



237 



until ISTO. wlien lie was married to Miss 
Syiiiiiva J. Fosse, a native of Lekangens 
Prestegjekl, Bergen Stilt, Norway, the 
daughter of John Tvnudtson Fosse ; lier 
mother was Ranei (Olson) Fosse. They 
came to America in 1861!, settling in Dane 
count\', Wisconsin, where the father died in 
1867. The mother came to Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, witli Mrs. Solhaug, in 1868, 
where she died the following year. They 
had a family of nine children — Knute, Annie, 
Lars, Ole, Engari, Gjertrude, Knudt Jr., 
Synniva and Erita. The parents, together 
with their entire famil\% were members of 
the Lutheran Church. 

Our sul)ject, after his marriage, prepared 
for the West, ])urcliasing one yoke of cattle 
and a wagon, and at once started with his 
bride for Kandiyohi county, this being in 
the month of June, 1871. They settled at jSTor- 
way Lake. ]\[r. Solhaug having only one and a 
half dollars in his pockets at the time. He 
stopped with a brother-in-law, named Knute 
Fosse and hired to a neighboring farmer 
for one month at farm work, and besides 
his other work he cradled twent\'-seven 
acres of wheat during the time He got 835 
per month, besides what his wife earned at 
farm labor. They continued this sort of 
work until in the fall, when the}' took out 
papers for 160 acres of land under the pre- 
emption act, this being situated at Norway 
Lake. They commenced the improvement 
of the same, working out at odd spells. After 
three years he sold liis claim for 8100, then, 
in 1875, came to Pope county, with his wife, 
driving overland with his o.\-team. lie pur- 
chased 130 acres, where he now lives, jiaying 
for the same §325. lie built at first a 10x10 
.foot in size log cabin, in which he lived for five 
yeai"s. In 1880, he erected a good frame 
house, 16x16 feet in size, to which he has 
since added a kitchen and bed-room, the 
whole finely painted. Two years later he 
built a granary, 14x18, and fenced in his farm. 



This successful man's idea is that if one 
will stick strictly to his own business, and 
keep out of politics, he can, beyond doubt, 
acquire a royal competency in this land of 
the free and pksnty. He says he would not 
trade his farm for that owned i)y his ])arents 
in Norway, although twenty times as large 
as his own, for the chance of makinjr a 
living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Solhaug have had a family of 
ten children, eight of whom are now living. 

Up to this time Mr. Solhaug has been a 
republican, but isnow a strong prohibitionist. 
He has held the office of justice of the peace 
for six years ; lieen town clei-k four years 
and secretary of the Fai'mers' Mutual Fire 
Insurance Company of AVhite Bear Lake for 
five years. Both he and his wife belonof to 
the Lutheran Chui'ch. 



/g^LE MORTENSON, the subject of 
V^i/ the present article, is a thrifty and 
enterprising farmer, i-esiding on section '25, 
Langhei township. He was born in the 
southern part of Norway, in February, 1828, 
and is a son of Morton and Maret (Knude- 
son) Olson, who are natives of that kingdom. 
His father was a blacksmith, and, durinsr 
the latter jiart of his life, was interested in 
land for the Government. Both parents 
died in the old country, and they had the 
following children — ]\Iaret, True, Mali, Jfar- 
tine and Ole. Our subject is the only one 
in the United States. His mother nnu'ried 
again to Air. Johnson, and both are dead. 
She had six chiklren by her second husband. 

Ole Mortenson (our subject) was a fisher- 
man in the old country, and came to 
America in 1871, landing in Quebec, Canada, 
and at once came to Pope county, where he 
has since remained. 

Our subject was married, June 22, 1860, to 
Miss Anna Ellertson, who was born and 



23S 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



educated in Norway. They liave been 
blessed with t lie foil owing- childi-en — Martin, 
Ilegina, Anton, Ole, Lars. Carl, Jolm and 
Edwin, all of whom are living and at iionie. 
Our subject inherited his present fariii from 
the father of Mrs. Mortenson (Mr Carlson), 
and it eoinpi'ises 320 acres of well cultivated 
land, with good building improvements. 
(Jur subject is engaged, successfully, in a 
general farming and stock-raising business, 
lie is a representative man of his township, 
and is a republican in his ])olitical affili- 
ations. His sou is school clerk. Mr. Mor- 
tenson is highly esteemed by all who know 
him, and all certif}' to his abilitj^ and trust- 
worthiness in all matters. lie takes an 
active interest in all ])ublic and educational 
affairs, and he and his family are exemplary 
members of the Lutheran Church. 



WILLIAM PERKINS, one of the sub- 
stantial and highly respected resi- 
dents of Wi'stport township, resides on sec- 
tion IS. He is a native of Steuben county, 
New York, where he was Ixjrn. July 23, 
1S45, and is the son of Hubbard and Ma- 
randa (Edget) Perkins, natives of the same 
State. The mother died in Goodhue county, 
Minnesota, in ISO-t. The father is living at 
Pine Island, Gocxlliue county, and has al- 
ways followed farmer's life. He has been 
honored by various public offices in liistown- 
shij) and county. Both he and his wife were 
faithful believers in the Captist Church and 
its creed. They reared a family of nine 
children, five boys and four girls — Hiram, 
Harman A., William, Esther, Eandall, Ira, 
Rozella, Nancy and one who died in infancy. 
Hiram died at the age of thirty-six years, a 
single man. 

William Perkins lived in the township of 
Howard, Steuben county. New York, until 
he was twelve years of age, at which date 



I he came with his jiarents to Goodhue 
county, Minnesota. This was in 1857, and 
his father preempted a piece of land, being 
one of the pioneers of that county. Our 
subject remained there until 1860, then 
moved to Pope county, where he took up a 

i homestead of 100 acres, on section 0, which, 
after making some improvements, he sold 
and then jnirchased his present place on sec- 
tion 18. He at once planted a goodly num- 
ber of box elder trees, which have come to 
be very large, fine and beautiful, as well as 
valuable, as a shade in summer and a protec- 
tion in the winter. He raises grain, and also is 
extensively engaged in the growing of fine 
stock, Holstein cattle being a specialty with 
him. 

In 1871, on the 5th of October. !Mr. Per- 
kins was married to Miss Ardelia Wilson, a 
native of Pennsylvania, the daughter of E 
P. B. and Cathai'ine (Irwin) Wilson, natives 
of Ireland and New Hampshire. The ])ar- 
ents were married at St. Andrews, New 
Brunswick, in 1835. Mr. Wilson was edu- 
cated in Ireland, and came to this country 
in 1833, stopping at St. Johns, New Bruuis- 
wick. The parents had a family of the 
following children — Mary, Sarah (deceased), 
Sophronia (deceased), Daniel (deceased) 
Annie, Ardelia (tieceased), Sarah, Bradford 
(deceased), Ardelia, now Mrs. Perkins, Brad- 
ford and George. 

The wife of our subject finished her edu- 
cation in Pope county, Minnesota. Her 
parents belong to the Seventh Day Advent- 
ists. Their children, five in number, are as 
follows — Minnie, Cora, Hai-ry, Katie and 
Olive, all still living at home with their par- 
ents. Mr. Perkins is a republican in his ))ol- 
itics, and is an active member of the school 
board, having been director since 1885. He 
has been prominently identified with the 
growth and development of the northeastern 
portion of the county, and is one of the lead- 
ing citizens of the township in which he lives. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



239 



lOHAN E. HANSON, a resident of section 
31, Cliipjjewa Falls to\viislii|), is a native 
of Norway, born .^^ay 11, 18r)2, and is tlie 
son of Hans N. and Engehor (Anderson) 
Hanson, who were also of Norwegian birth. 
The father was foreman in a lai'ge iron 
manufactory I'oi- nineteen years, lie also, 
during this tini(% had charge of a large tim- 
ber tract, and aftorwaril cariied on mercan- 
tile business for four years. In 1872 he sold 
his Imsiness interests in Norway and sailed 
for America, and located in Pope county, 
Minnesota, at a point in Rolling Fork town- 
shi|), where he took a homestead of ninety- 
seven acres, and improved it. \\q afterwai'cl 
sold it and purchased school land in the 
township of Harsness, to the amount of eighty 
acres, wliicli he improved and afterward sf)l(l. 
lie is now retireti, and makes his home witii 
his son, in Rolling Forks townshij). The 
family consisted of five children — Johan E., 
Lewis, nog(;hart, Herman and Annie, now 
Mrs. Forreldson. Both tiie father and 
mother are Lutherans. 

The sui)ject of this biographical sketch, 
Johan E. Hanson, was born at Konigsberg 
City, Norway, and attended school at Eids- 
foss. At the age of sixteen he entered a 
store as clerk, remaining for three years, and 
in 1871 came to America, first sto])|)ing in 
Utica, Dane county, Wisconsin, lie was 
there emplo3'ed one 3'ear on a farm, and 
then came to Pope count}', Minnesota, and 
worked in a mill at Chippewa Falls for about 
two yeai's. The ne.xt two years he worked at 
milling at Swift Falls, Swift countv, Min- 
nesota. He then purchased a farm of 147 
acres in (Uiippewa Falls townshij). This was 
improved by iiim and linally a pDrtimi of it 
was sold, lie tiien l)ought seventy acres, 
which joiiunl l:is, and now lias l.'>0 acres, all 
finely improvrd. He is engaged in the 
stock business and also in "-eiitMal farminjr. 
He was married, March 31, 1877, liy Rev. 
Re(]ue, to Miss Olia Peterson, ilaughter of 



Peter and JNIarit (Engerbretson) Peterson, 
natives of Norway. Mr. and 'Mrs. Hanson are 
blessed with a family of four children now 
living- — Herman, Marie, Inga and Sophus. 

In his political faith Mr. Hanson does not 
stick to parties and is iiide))('n(lent, voting 
for the best man. He has held the office of 
township supervisor, assessor, school director 
and school clerk, holding the latter at the 
present time. He was elected as county 
commissioner in 1886, and is looked upon by 
all as one of the leading and one of the 
most intelligent and reliable citizens in the 
southern part of the county. 



-«" 



[aMES REID JAMISON, one of the most 
intelligent and best ])osted citizens in 
Leven township, resides on section lit, where 
he carries on general farming. He is a 
native of the city of Philad(>l|)nia, Pennsyl- 
vania, Ijorn June 29, ISfil, and a, son of 
John and Jane (llogaii) Jamison, who were 
natives of Ireland. The father learned the 
carpenter's trade in '• the Emerald Isle," and 
came to the United States about 1842, locat- 
ing: in New York Citv. There he was nuvr- 
ried and remained for a numi)ei' of years, 
working at his trade. He then located in 
the suburbs of the city of Philadel])hia, 
where he still lives, actively carrying on his 
trade. The mother came to the United 
States about 1851. ]\Ir. and Mrs. John 
Jamison were the parents of eight children, 
the following of whom arc still living — 
Robert, James, Samuel, Mary J. and Sarah. 
James R. Jamison, the subject of our 
present article, spent his boyhood days and 
received his education in the city of Phila- 
delphia, attending school 11 mil he was twelve 
yeai-s of age. He then began learning the 
printer's trade — " the art preservative of all 
arts" — and worked at this for two yeai's. 
After this he worked at carpentering with 



240 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



his father, off and on, for three or four years, 
and then, in 1876, when he was fifteen years 
of age, he came to Minnesota with WiUiam 
Hogan, an uncle on liis mother's side. He 
worked for that gentleman for nearly three 
years, and then returned to the city of his 
birth, and was there employed at carpenter- 
ing. He remained in Philadelphia until 
1SS5, when he again came to Pojie county, 
Minnesota, and purchased his present place, 
on section 19, Leven township, where he 
now owns 240 acres of land, a good share of 
it being under cultivation. 

Mr. Jamison was married on the 28th of 
July, 1887, to Miss Elgiva Clarenna Bundy, 
a native of Canada and a daughter of "Wil- 
liam Bundy. 

Our subject is wholly independent of party 
in his political views. He and his wife are 
exemplaiw members of the Eeformed Pres- 
bytei'ian churchof Reno township. 



^.^^ 



PETER B. WOLLAN, one of the most 
prominent, influential and successful 
old settlers still residing in the county, is a 
resident of section 11, White Bear Lake 
township. Having been born in Norway, 
January 5. 1827, he received in his native 
land that training in economy', integrity and 
industry which are proverbial traits in the 
race from which he springs. He was brought 
up on a fai-m and remained in the land of 
his birth until is5',t, when he came to the 
United States and proceeded directl}' to 
Winneshiek county, Iowa, where one of his 
brothers was then living. A few weeks later 
he went to Allamakee county, Iowa, where 
he workcnl on a farm until fall, and then spent 
the winter woi'king on the levees on the 
Mississippi River in the South. In the spring 
of 1860 he returned to Allamakee county, 
Iowa, where he purchased a farm, and en- 
ffaijed in faruiiiiy on his own account. In 



1861 he was married to Miss Caroline Nor- 
gord. In 1866 he sold out and removed to 
Winneshiek county, where he lived for two 
years. At the expiration of that time, in the 
spring of 1868, they started in a covered 
wagon for Pope county, Minnesota, bring- 
ing eight head of horses and twenty -six head 
of cattle. After a tedious and difficult jour- 
ney of three or four weeks, they finally ar- 
rived at White Bear Lake, and our subject 
purchased a claim on section 11, of John 
Harrington, paying $100 for it. Later he 
purchased it of the Government for $200- 
Our subject at once began improving his 
place, erecting a cabin for his family and a 
stable for his stock, and. during the first sea- 
son, broke up some sixteen or twenty acres 
of land. Times were hard during the first 
few years, and the pioneer had many disad- 
vantages and difficulties to encounter, but 
our subject has remained upon his place 
steadily since his first settlement, and now 
has one of the most valuable farms in the 
township, embracing some 200 acres, with 
good buildings, fair orchard and land under 
a high state of cultivation. 

Our subject has always taken a prominent 
and active part in all public and eilucational 
matters, and has hekl various local offices. 
He is a man of the strictest honor and integ- 
rity, and ranks high among the leading 
farmers of the county. 

Mr. and Mi's. AYollan are the ]iarents of 
eight chiklren — Carolina, now Mrs. Thomas 
Ofsthun, of Glen wood ; Johanna, now Mrs. 
Ole Susac, of Glenwood ; Benjamin, now in 
Dakota ; Paulina, now Mrs. Charles Gorder, 
of Starbuck : and Peter, Carl, Gena and 
Otto, at home. 

Mr. Wollan relates that during the great 
Indian outbreak through the Northwest, in 
1862, at one time the scare extended clear to 
where he was then living, in Allamakee 
county, Iowa, and beyond, and the settlers 
all left their farms for safety. But, Mrs. Wol- 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



241 



Ian being very sick, they were unable to 
leave, althouoh one night they were warned 
that tiie Iiuhans were witiiin three or four 
miles of his place, bui'ning and murdering as 
they came. After he came to Pope county, 
for a few years there were many Indians in 
this neighborhood, and they frequently called 
at the cabins of the settlers for pi'ovisions, 
etc., but never created any trouble. 



/^ Rir.K OMEN, one of Pope county's 
XiSS'' most i)rosj)orous and influential citi- 
zens, is a resident of section IS, l>lue Mounds 
townshij). He is a native of Sweden, born 
May 23. 1837. and is a son of Erick Anderson, 
who was engaged in mining in that coimtry. 
The father is dead, and the mother came to 
this country two yeai-s after her husband's 
death, in 1870, and settled in Michigan, where 
she lived six years, and then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota. She died in 1877, leav- 
ing the following children to mourn her 
loss— C. N. Branch, Ulreka, Erick. Gustof, 
Carolina, Fred and John. Fred and Ulreka 
arc dead, and the rest are living in Pope 
county. 

Our subject came to t lie United States in 
18t)8, and after landing in New York City 
started West, lie remained a few days in 
Chicago, Illinois, then went to Marquette 
county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in 
mining for six years. He then came \.o 
Pope county, ^linnesota, and bought land 
in i'.hie Mounds township, where he has since 
remained, lie has a good farm of 160 acres, 
with substantial building improvements, and 
is engaged in general farming and stock-rais- 
ing. In political matters Mr. Om(>ii affiliates 
with the republican party. 

Mr. Omen was married, June 2-1, 1^71, to 
JIiss( 'liarlotte Anderson, and they have been 
bless(>d with the following ciiikb'en — Erick, 
SehiKi and liiilda. Mrs. Omen was a native 



of Sweden, and came to this country in 1870. 
Her death occurred in 1880, and she was 
buried in Blue j\foimds township. She was 
a member of the Lutheran Church. Our 
subject married his second wife in 1881, Miss 
Ureka Anderson, a native of Sweden, and a 
daughter of Andrew and Christine (Nelson) 
Johnson, who were natives of the same king- 
dom. Her father was a watchmaker, which 
business he was engaged in all his life. 

Mr. Omen and wife are exemplary mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, of which organ- 
ization he is treasurer. 



--*•-: 



«4^— ►- 



JM) ElER THORSON, a prominent and re- 
Jp^ spected citizen of Pope county, is a 
resident of section 22, Lake Johanna town- 
ship. He was born in Norway, October 29, 
1839, and is a son of Thor and Mary (Peir- 
son) Thorson, who were natives of the same 
kingdom. His father is a tailor by trade, 
and his ])arents are still living in the old 
country. Tiiey have a family of nine chil- 
dren. Our subject received his education in 
the land of his birth, and came to the United 
States in July, 1SB7. On landing in tliis 
country in Quebec, Canada, he went to St. 
Paul, i\Iinnesota, then to St. Cloud, ^linne- 
sota, and from there he journeyed with a 
team to Pope county. For the next few 
years he was engaged in iiouse-building. and 
in 1870 he look a homestead in Lake Jo- 
hanna township, section 22, where he has 
since remained. When he settled on his 
claim he built a log-cabin, l-lxlfi feet in size, 
and was one of the earliest settlers in that 
localit}'. Our subject is a prominent man 
of his township , and has held the following 
offices — supervisor, for seven yeai's, school di- 
rectors etc., and has always taken an active 
interest in all public and educational matters. 
Tiie sui)ject of tiiis article was united in 
marriage, June 17. 1862, to Miss Inger Hal- 



242 



POPE COU.VTY, MINNESOTA. 



vorson, a native of Norway, and they have 
been blessed with eleven children — Thora, 
Halvor, Mary. Kirsten, Olena, Hans, Eliza, 
Ida, Alfred, Ole and Elma. Mary is mar- 
ried to Mr. Suckstorflf, a farmer of Gilchrist 
township. Mr. Thorson and family are ex-~ 
emplarv members of the Lutheran Church, 
of which organization he is a trustee. He 
has a well-improved farm of 200 acres, with 
good buikling imjirovements. In his poli- 
tics, Mr. Thorson affiliates with the repub- 
lican party and is high]\' esteemed by all who 
know him. 



^M^DMUN SYVERSON, a resident of sec- 
Jlt^^jL tion 2, Gilchrist township, is a native 
of Norwa}', born in yeptcmber, 1845, and is a 
son of Sever and Engeborg (Amundson) 
Severson, who are natives of the same 
kingdom. At the age of six months Admun 
lost his father, and his mother died wlieVi he 
was nine years old. After this sad event he 
lived with his cousin until he was thirteen 
years of age. He then hired out to a farmer, 
for whom he worked one year, then bii-ed to 
another for a period of five ^-ears. When he 
was twenty years of age he came to the 
United States, settling in Fillmore county, 
IMinnesota, where he worked for farmers 
during the next j^ear and a half. He then 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and in the 
fall took a homestead on section 2. Gilchrist 
townshij). In the spring of ISfiS he broke 
some land, and then went to AVisconsin, 
where he remained until late in the fall, when 
he returned to his claim. After remaining 
on his farm for a short time he went to St. 
Cloud, Minnesota, and that winter cut wood 
in that locality. The following spring he 
went back to his claim and put in a crop on 
the seven acres which he had broken the 
previous year. He then went to "Washing- 
ton count}', Minnesota, and worked for a few 



months, when he again journeyed to his 
homestead. During the winters of 1869, 
1870 and 1871 our subject was employed as 
mail carrier on the route between Paynes- 
ville and Alexandria, a distance of seventy 
miles. He made one trip a week, and there 
was no road except the one which he " broke " 
himself. In the summers of those years he 
worked on his farm. By economy, industry 
and integrity he has placed himself in com- 
fortable circumstances, and is held in high 
esteem by all who know him. He now has 
a farm of 240 acres, with fourteen acres of 
timber. 110 acres under cultivation and neat 
commodious buildings. Our subject takes 
an active interest in all public matters and 
has held the following offices — supervisor, 
township treasurer, school director, school 
clerk, etc. 

Mr. Syverson was mariied May 28, 1871, 
to Miss Isabelle Johnson, and they have 
been blessed with the following children — 
Louis, John, Julius, Emelia, George and 
Martin. They are exemplary members of 
the Lake Johannes Lutheran church, of 
which organization our subject is secretary. 
In political matters he alKliates with the 
republican party, and he justly i-anks as one 
of the most substantial and prominent farm- 
ers of his townshi]). 



^Mf AAGEN OLSON is a successful and 
JL' J. well-to-tlo farmer, residing on section 
21, Rolling Fork township. He is a native 
of Norway, born at Ester Dahln. Februar\' 
8, 18'14, and is a son of Ole and Anna (Hag- 
gensdotter) Olson, who are natives of the 
same kingdom. At the age of ten yeai'S he 
commenced to work out. and for the next 
fifteen 3'ears we find him working alter- 
nately at home and abroad. In 1867 he 
came to the United States and settled on 
Crow River, in Stearns county, Minnesota. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



243 



During tlie first year he was sick most of 
the time, and on liis recovery went to Cold 
Springs, Minnesota, where lie staid tliree 
montiis. Tie then went to St. Cloud, Min- 
nesota, where he worked in a stone quarry 
for a number of years. He came from there 
to Pope county, ^finncsota, and two years 
later he bought 1(!0 aei'es of land on section 
21, Kolhng Fork townsliip. Our subject is 
now in very comfortable circumstances, has 
about sixty acres under cultivation, owns 
six horses, forty-five head of cattle, and has 
a neat, comfortable frame house. 

Mr. Olson was united in marriage on the 
1st day of March, 1875, to Miss Rina Emmer- 
son, daughter of Andrew and Hertlia Em- 
merson, and they have been ijlessed with the 
following children — Anna B., Tela and An- 
ton. The family are exemplary mend)ers of 
the Norwegian Lutheran Church. In polit- 
ical matters the subject of this biography 
affiliates with the rei)ubliean party. 



:-*► 



/^HARLES WESLEY CHURCHILL, one 
'^y of \\'alden township's most prosper- 
ous and inlluential citizens, resides in section 
30, on one of the most picturescpie and rich- 
est farms in that section of the county. He 
is one of the leading stock-raisers in his re- 
gion, and is one of the most efficient steam- 
engineers that can be obtained in this part 
of the State. The subject of this biography 
was born in the State of Maine, at Corrinna, 
on the 11th of JIarch. 1841. He received 
his education in the excellent district schools 
of his native State. Charles remained at 
home working on his father's farm until the 
Civil War broke out, when he eidisted in the 
Twentj'-sixth Maine Volunteer Infantry, 
and served his full time, and was honorably 
discharged. During his active service he 
was in a great many hard fnught battles, in- 
cluding the siege and capture of Port Hud- 



son, Louisiana, Red River expedition, 
Texas, etc., etc. xVfter the war he returned 
to his native State, then came to Cottage 
Grove, IVIinnesota, where he rented land. 
There he remained until 1870, when he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a home- 
stead in Walden township, on section 22, 
and resided on it until 1878, when he went 
to Hancock, where he remained for nine 
years. During his early residence his 
nearest neighbor was a Mr. Sage, who lived 
a distance of fifteen miles, and, as Mr. 
Churchill says, ''they didn't often ex- 
chanji-e evening: calls." 

Returning from Hancock, our subject 
settled on section 30, Walden township, his 
present place of residence. He has 380 
acres of desirable farming and grazing land, 
stocked with fifty head of choice graded 
cattle, ninety-eight choice Merino sheep, 
horses, swine, jwultry, etc. Mr. Churchill 
has a cosy, cottage residence, nestled in a 
dense and extensive artificial grove. 

Mr. Churchill was married in October, 
1S()3, to Celia Adalaide Heal, of Lincoln- 
ville, Maine, and this union has been l)lessed 
with one chikl, Charles William. 

Our subject affiliates with the republican 
party in political matters. 



.«« 



«^. 



fDEL FERREE, one of the most highly 
esteemed and respected citizens of the 
southwestern part of Pope county, is en- 
gaged in general farming on section 4, lloff 
township. He is a native of Salona, Clinton 
count}', Penn.sylvania, born April 4, 1819, and 
is a son of George and Margaret (llaslett) 
Ferree. The father an<l mother were natives 
of Laiicaster and Montgomery counties, 
Pennsylvania, respectively, and l)oth died in 
their native State — the mother in 1854, and 
the father in 1803. The father was a mill- 
wright by trade, and followed tiiat foi' many 



244 



rOPF. COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



years, and then for a number of years was 
engaged at carpenter work and jminting. 
George Ferree and wife were the parents of 
the following children — Jane, John W., 
Harriett, Joel, George, Christian and Amelia 
Ann. George. C'hi'istian and Jane are dead. 

Joel Ferree, the subject of our present 
article, spent his school days at Salona and 
Mill Hall, in his native State, finishing a 
good, practical education at about twenty 
years of age. Pie remained at home until he 
had attained his majoiity, learning, mean- 
while, the tailor's tratle. This he followed 
for some fifteen yeai'S, and then for a great 
many years was engaged at painting. He 
then bought a place about five miles from 
Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, and followed farm- 
ing for eight yciirs. In 1S6S lie sold out, and 
removed to Wisconsin, but one year later set- 
tled in Stevenson count}", Illinois, where for 
ten years he followed the painters trade. In 
1879 became to Pope county, ]\Iinnesota, and 
purchased 160 acres of land on section 4, 
Hoff township, where he has since lived, 
devoting his attention to diversified agricult- 
ure. 

Mr. Ferree was first mari'ied in September, 
1842, to Miss Eliza Stoner, a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and a daughter of Henry Stoner. 
She died February 7, 18-1:3, leaving one child, 
George Erwin, who is married and lives in 
Mackeyville, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Ferree's second marriage occurred 
May 10, 18-18, when he wedded Miss Lydia 
Ludwick. She was born and raised in Penn- 
S3dvania, and was a daughter of Peter Lud- 
wick, a manufacturer. By this raari'iage, 
Mr. and Mrs. Ferree have been the parents 
of eleven children — Mary, Fannie, John, 
Milton, Wilford D., Joel Edward, Aquilla 
Hamlin, Charles, Hattie Clara, Emery and 
James. The two last named — Emery and 
James — died in infancy. Mary married 
William Graham, a farmer of Traverse 
county, Minnesota, Fannie married George B. 



Newton, editor of the Olive Brwnch, at Han- 
cock, and the rest are single. Aquilla Ham- 
lin has taught several terms of school in 
Dakota and Minnesota. 

Mr. Ferree is an old-line republican in his 
]iolitical affiliations, having cast his first vote 
for General Harrison, Un- the presidency, in 
1840, at Mill Hall, Pennsylvania. 



J^P^RS. MARIA A. SQUIRE, of Glenwood, 
_^At\_ is the widow of Cliarles C. Squire, 
deceased, a veteran of the late war. and a 
man who, during his lifetime, was respected 
and esteemed b}' all who knew him. Mrs. 
Squire is a native of Wisconsin, and a daugh- 
ter of Sylvester and Hulda (Rogers) Finch, 
natives of Connecticut and New York, re- 
spectively. At an early day her parents 
came West and became pioneers of Wliite- 
water. Wisconsin. Later they moved to 
Marquette county, in the same State, and in 
1856 came to Minnesota and engaged in 
farming near Belle Plaine, in Scott county. 
In 1884 tiie parents removed to Kansas, set- 
tling in Cloud county, where they both died 
during the following year. They were ex- 
emplary members of the United Brethren 
Church. They had a family of nine chil- 
dren — Eunice A., John, George. Jfatilda J., 
Mary A., Maria A., Lucy L., Ellen (died in 
childhood) and William. 

IVIaria A. Squii'e, whose name iieads this 
article, grew to womanhood, and, in 1864, 
was married to Charles C. Squire, in Scott 
county, Minnesota. 

Mr. Squire was a native of the State of 
Maine, born in 1837, and was a son of Sam- 
uel and Lovina (Coleman) Squire. In 1856 
he came to the Territory- of Minnesota, and 
here engaged at farming, having been 
brought up at that kind of labor. Shortly 
after the war broke out. in 1862, lie enlisted 
in Company A, Fourth Minnesota Volunteer 



rorr. county, Minnesota. 



245 



Infaiitrv, and remaine<l in the service until 
the close of tiie war, Ix'ing honoraljly dis- 
charged and mustered out as coi'])oral. lie 
returned fioni the luirdsiiips of army life 
hrolcen down in iiealtii. and for three yeai's 
was able to do Init little laboi-. He resumed 
farming as he became able, iiowever, and 
followed it in Scott county until 1881, when 
he sold out, and during the following year 
removed to Pope county and settled in Glen- 
wood, purcliasing a farm of 100 acres in 
Glenwooil township, besides considerable 
village property, liis death occurred in 
Se])tember, 188^, the same year that he came 
here. He was a man of the strictest integ- 
rity, a republican in political views, and an 
active member of tiie tirand Army of the 
Republic. 

Air. Squire and wife were the parents of 
six children, as follows — Alma V., Samuel, 
Sylvester, Effie L., Nathaniel and Mary O. 
Alma v., tiie eldest, married a ]Mr. Simmons, 
of Glenwood. and tliey have one child liv- 
ing — Ettie M. 

— — 4"fS^-*— — 

WHEODORE THORSON, a native of 
Dakota county, Minnesota, now resid- 
ing in section 35 of Glenwood township, 
was born March 22, 1857. He is the son of 
Oscar and Sarah (Overson) Thorson, who 
were natives of Norway, the father coming 
to this country in 1845, when a bo}' of but 
nine summers. The mother came when sev- 
enteen years of age. The mother of our 
subject, upon coming to America, settled in 
Wisconsin, but in 1855 came to Minnesota, 
and settled in Dakota county. On the 
fatlier's side, the parents settled at Bulfalo, 
New York, wiiere they lived a few yeai's, 
then settled in Dakota county, Minnesota, 
where the father worked as a millwright, and 
later at farm work. They had a family of 
thirteen children, eight of wiioni still live — 



Tonetta, Theodore, Emma, Cornelia, Anton, 
Ilellen, Alfred and John. 

Our subject remained at home until of age, 
always working on the farm, and attending 
the common district school. In 1878, he 
came to Po])e county, and ])urchased a (piar- 
tcr of section 35. in Glenwood townsiiip. 
lie improved the same, and since has pur- 
cliascil school land, having 200 acres in 
all, upon whicli he raises stock and grain. 
Mr. Thorson Avas married to Miss T'osetta 
Simons, in 1880. She was the daughter of 
Knut Aslong Simons, and was born in Rice 
county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Thorson 
have a family of three daughters — Selma A., 
Florence E. and Elizabeth II. The family 
are members of the Lutheran Churcii, and 
^fr. Thorson is a prominent citizen of tiie 
township in wliich he lives. 



foHN COOLEY, one of the old settlers 
and pioneers of the northern ])art of 
Pope county, is engaged in farming and 
stock-raising on section 26, Reno township. 
He is a native of Wiltshire. England, Ijorn 
September -l, 1887, and is a son of Joiin and 
Ann (Hoodman) Cooley. His father and 
mother were both natives of England, and 
tliey raised a family of four children— AViil- 
iam, Maria, Sarah and .lohn. 

John Cooley, our subject, spent his boy. 
hood days and received his education in the 
land of his birth. When he was sixteen 
years of age he sailed from iiis native land 
for America, and, after a voyage of eight 
weeks on the ocean, landed at Quebec, Can- 
ada. From there he went to Monroe count}', 
New York, and remained about there for 
several years, engaged at various occupations. 
At the expiration of that time, in 1801, he 
came to Minnesota and located in Wabasha 
county. In September, 1804, as tiie Civil 
War was then in progress, he enlisted in the 



246 



rOPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Third Minnesota Infantry anil went into the 
service. He went South, and the command 
to which his regiment was attached was sta- 
tioned at Duval's Bluffs, on the White River, 
in Arkansas. After the close of the war, in 
1865, he was honorably discharged at Jack- 
sonport, Arkansas, and at once returned to 
his home, in Wabasha county, Minnesota. 
In 1866 he came to Pope County, Minnesota, 
and took a homestead of 100 acres on section 
26, Eeno township, where he has lived since 
that time. lie now owns 21.5 acres, a good 
share of which is under a high state of cul- 
tivation, lie devotes his attention to gen- 
eral fai'ming and stock-raising, and has been 
very successful. 

Mr. Cooley was married in 18.58, to Miss 
Margaret Ann Taylor. She was reared and 
educated in Canada. Her father died when 
she was quite young, while her mother died 
in Wabasha county, Minnesota. The mar- 
riage of Mr. and JV[rs. Cooley has been 
blessed with ten children — Ella, Charles, 
Ilattie A., Emma, Clara B., Mertie, Din-a, 
William, Jessie and Earl. The three eldest 
are married, while the rest are single and at 
home. 

Our subject is a repul)lican in his political 
belief, and cast his' jiresidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. He has always 
taken an active interest in all pul)lic and ed- 
ucational matters. He has at various times 
held local offices, such as school clerk and 
township supervisor, for a great many years. 



MALVOR BENSON, a i)rominent old set- 
tler and ])ioneer of Pope county, is a 
resident of section 18. Bangor township. He 
was born in the northern part of Norway, 
December 24, 1835, and is a son of Sabia 
and Jennie (Olson) Benson, both of whom 
were natives of the same land. The father 
was a farmer through life and died in 1880, 



while the mother is still living in Norway. 
They were the parents of nine children — 
Halvor, Ole, Sabian, Peter, Julia, Grove, 
Helga, Austria and Annie. Julia is dead. 

Halvor Benson received his education in 
the land of his birth, and remained there 
until 1854, when he came to America, land- 
ing in Quebec, after a vov'age of eight weeks 
on the ocean. From there he went to Clay- 
ton county. Iowa, and four or five years 
later he settled in Fillmore county, Minne- 
sota, where he was enj;ao:ed in farmiufj for 
over ten years. In 1871 he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and located upon 120 
acres of land on section 25. Chipjiewa Falls 
township. He fanned that place and im- 
proved it, building a log cabin and stable, 
remaining there four years. At the expira- 
tion of that time he came to Bangor town- 
ship and took a homestead of 120 acres on 
section 18, where he still lives. His im- 
provements are of an excellent character, 
and he is gradually working into an exten- 
sive stock business. He owns a share in a 
full blooded horse, " Chanteur, " one of the 
best bred animals in the county. 

Mr. Benson was married July 10, 1862, 
at Decorah, Iowa, to Miss Anna Olson. She 
was born in Norway, July 15, 183-1:, and her 
parents are both dead. In her father's f am i ly 
there were the following chiklren — Andrew, 
Ole, Barbara, Belle,Anna, Mary, Christina and 
Barbara. Mr. and Mrs. Benson have three 
ciiildi'en — Julia, Carolina and Matilda Hel- 
ena. Julia was married in the church in 
Chippewa Falls, in 1880. to Knute Johnson, 
of Sauk Center. 

Mr. Benson was a soldier in the late war. 
He enlisted February 7, 1863, in the First 
Minnesota Infantry, and served with that 
gallant regiment until the close of the war, 
receiving his discharge in the latter part of 
the year 1865. He was wounded twice, once 
in the forehead and once in the thigh. He 
spent a short time in the hospital. Besides 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



247 



many skirniislies. he participated in tlie bat- 
tles at Petersburg and lieeves' Station. 

In political matters he has always been a 
strong republican, and is an honored mem- 
ber of the Grand Army of the Tvepublic. 



-^^ 



^g|lNAR JOHNSON, a successful and 
\^^ highly respected farmer and stock- 
raiser, residing on section 12, White Bear 
Lake township, was born in Norway on the 
10th of December, 1835. In his native land, 
from necessity, he learned those priiici[)les 
of econoiiiv. industry and fruo-ality which 
so characterize the Norwegian i-ace. At the 
early age of ten years he was thi'own upon 
iiis own I'esources, and successfully made 
his own way in the world, although in his 
native land tliere was but a meager chance 
for a poor boy. Tie remained thei'e, how- 
ever, worldng at various vocations, until he 
was thirty-one years of age, when he decided 
to seek in the New World that chance for 
securing a competency denied the ]K)or man 
in his native kingdom. He accordingly 
sailed from home on the 25th of April, 1867, 
and soon afterward landed in Quebec. From 
there he made his way to Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, where lie remained for three or 
four yeai's, engaged at farming and at rail- 
road work. At the expiration of that time 
he decided to secure a farm for himself, and 
took a trip through the western part of the 
State in search of a location, but, finding 
nothing to suit him, he went to .Minneapolis, 
where he worked for four years. In the fall 
of 1875 he came to Po]»e county, and jiur- 
cliaseil his pi'esent farm, on section VI. While 
Bear Lake township. He has since made 
this his home, and now has a valuable farm, 
u|)on which he carries on general farming 
and stock-raising. Since his settlement here 
he has taken considerable interest in public 



affairs and has served for some time as town- 
ship supervisor. 

Mr. Johnson was married in 1883 to Miss 
Olena Peterson, and they are the ])arents of 
one boy — Peter. Mr. Johnson and his wife 
are both active and zealous members of the 
Indherred Lutheran church, in which he is 
the present treasurer, and he is also secretary 
of the Bible Heading Society. 



KNUTE O. HAUGEN, a prominent and 
representative farmer resides on sec- 
tion 26, Ben Wade township. He was born 
in Norway, October 31, 1836, and is the son 
of Ole anil Ida (Ilaugen) llaugen, who were 
also natives of Norway. Wlien our subject 
was eighteen he went into the jieddler's busi- 
ness, in wliich he engaged for about one j'ear, 
taking in payment for his wares, calf and 
sheep skins. He remained at home for five or 
six years, when he again went to peddling, at 
which he was occupied for a period of five 
years. In 1867 he came to the United States, 
stoi)ping first in Fillmore county Minnesota, 
where he remained for fourteen weeks, work- 
ing for farmers, and, in the winter, working 
for his board. He then came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and after taking a homestead he 
went to St. Paul, where he worked five 
months, and then returned to his claim. The 
following July, after putting in a crop and 
cutting some hay, he went to Hastings, where 
he remained two months, and again returned 
to his claim, whei'e he has since remaineil. 

Our subject was married, December 2<>, 
1871, to Miss Sarah Thorson Keis, daughter 
of T(jryand Ida* Jacol)soii) Johnson. They 
have been blessed with the following cliil- 
di'en — Ole, Isaitella, Theodore. Ida, Caroline, 
Ole, Emily and Emily. Isabella, Ole. one 
Emily and Caroline are deail. 

Ml-. Hansen is a man of integrity and 



248 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



honor. lie lias lield the offices of supervisor, 
road overseer, etc., and in ]iolitical matters 
affiliates with the prohibition party. They 
are exemplary members of the Norwegian 
Lutheran riiurch. 



^^ — 



IRS. LUTHERA H. MAYNARD, of 
(irove Lake township, the widow 
of Cyrus W. J\[aynai'd, forms the subject of 
this sketch. Her husband was a native of 
New York State, born January 25, 1817. 
His father, llufus Maynard, came to Minne- 
sota and settled in Winona county, where he 
finally died. Cyrus W., the son, came to 
AVisconsm, and followed the trade of a me- 
chanic ; also worked at the same in Minne- 
sota, lie was married in St. Charles, Min- 
nesota, in 1867, to our subject, who was the 
daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Hall) 
Adams, natives of the State of New York 
The father was at one time a farmer in Oliio, 
and a man of much note. Benjamin Adams 
had four children, three of whom are now 
living — Luthera, Allen and Almon. 

Mrs. IMaynard was first married to Mr. 
John A. Tye, in Ohio. He was a farmer of 
that State. They moved to Wisconsin, and 
from there to Minnesota, from which State 
he enlisted in Company A, Second Minne- 
sota Eegiment, and died at Marietta, Georgia, 
of fever. This union was blessed with two chil- 
dren — Omer and Otis. Oiner married Adelia 
Marshall, of Stearns county. Otis was mar- 
ried in Dakota, and his wife was frozen to 
death in tlia,t tpri'ii)l(' blizzard of January, 
1888. 

In 1867, at Winona, Minnesota, Mrs. May- 
nard married Mr. ]\Iaynard. by whom one 
son was born — Champ W. Shortly after 
their marriage ]\fr. and Mrs. Maynard re- 
moved to (irove Lake townshi]). Pope county, 
and purchased a farm of 130 acres, on section 
13, where the husband died, June 16, 1880. 



In his political belief he was a republican 
and b\' religious profession he and his wife 
were both Methodists. He was a man of 
high character, an exemplary citizen and an 
honored member of the Masonic fraternity. 
From the time of her husband's tleath until 
1884 Mrs. Maynard remained upon the farm, 
and at that time she sold and purchased of 
William Emmerson eighty acres of land, be- 
sides buying out a claim of 102 acres, which 
joined it, and this constitutes her present 
comfortable home. She is a noble type of 
Christian womanhood, belonging to the 
]\Iethodist Church, and an active worker in 
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
She and her husband, now deceased, were 
pioneers of Pope county, and were promi- 
nently identified with tlie early growth and 
development of the locality in which they 
settled. 



P'VER OLSON RONNING, one of the 
most respected citizens and old settlers 
in the central part of Pope county, lives on 
section 10, Barsness townshi]). He was Ijorn 
at Sondre Fron, Guldbrandsdalen, in Norway, 
February 1, 1828, and is a son of Ole Han- 
son and Bagnhild (Monson) Ronning. He 
worlvcd on his father's farm until 1857, wlien 
he, with his family, came to America, set- 
tling in Waupaca county, Wisconsin. There 
he remained for nine years, working in the 
pineries and on a log drive. Mr. Konning 
then establisheil himself in Pope county, on 
a homestead on section 10, which he now 
occupies. He now owns one-half of the 
entire section, with a comfoi'table residence. 

The subject of our sketch was married to 
an estimable lady, Miss Ragnhild ^Vlonson, 
and their union has been blessed l)y the 
following children — Anna, Ole, Siuian, Peter, 
Carl Olaus, Henry Theodore, Louisa Maria, 
and Hannah Josephine. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



249 



f)le is married to Maiy Skendlien, and 
tiie}' resiile in West Superior, Wisconsin, 
where he runs a grocery store. Peter mar- 
ried Louisa Sylvester, and lives in Starbuck, 
where he clerks in a hardware store. All 
the other children are single, and live on 
tiie farm witii tlieir parents. Tiieir first- 
born, named Ole. died while they were 
crossing the ocean. Tliey all are exemplary 
members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, 
and l\\v. Tionning is I'ated among the most 
enterprising, intelligent anil substantial farm- 
ers of tlie countv. 



v^^ 



J-'VER HAGEN, a prominent farmer on 
section 20, of ]\Iinnewaska township, 
came to tliis countiy in ISTl from Norway, 
lie is the son of Andrew and Mary (Hudi) 
llagen, who came to America in 187*', set- 
tling in Pope county. He died in 1881; the 
mother is still living. They were the par- 
ents of five ciiildren. The STd)iect of tiiis 
sketch was reared on a farm in Norway, 
but in 1871 came to JVlinneapolis, where lie 
lived for five yeai's. then came to Pope 
county and purchased 320 acres of land, 
which he has constantly been improving un- 
til it has come to be one of the finest in the 
township. lie raises stock and grain, and is 
iKiw I'egarded as one of tlie most successful 
farmers in the countv. 

Mr. Hagen was mari'ied in IsTT, to Miss 
Gyda Botten, wiio was the daughter of 
Eland and IJonnong Hotten. also luitives of 
Norway. Mr. and Mrs. llagen iiave one 
child — Marie, lie is a man of more than 
ordinary aliility and is so looked upon by his 
neighbors, as he has served in an official ca- 
])acity, as chairman of the board of super 
visors, school clerk and other offices, besides 
always taking an active interest in all public 
affairs, lie is a strong prohiljitionist and has 
accomplisiied much good in the line of tem- 



perance. He and his estimable wife are both 
members of the Lutheran Church, of which 
he is the present clerk. His younger broth- 
ers are honored and well-to-do farmers, ad- 
joining him. 



--^: 



.-^^ 



§\\R. WILLIAM C. ALLEN, physician and 
'^/ surgeon, of Glenwood, is one of the 
leailing and most successful practitioners in 
Pope county. He is a native of Indiana, 
born February 19, 1856, and is a son of Dr. 
Nathaniel and Eliza J. (Reed) Allen. The 
father and mother were natives of Ohio and 
Indiana, respectively, and were married in 
the latter State. The father was a man of 
much ability and prominence. He was a 
graduate of the Medical College at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, in the class of 184:9, and prac- 
ticed his profession for seven years, near 
Princeton, Indiana, where he died m 1859. 
Prior to his graduation in medicine he was 
a Keformed Presbyterian minister, and served 
in an early day throughout Illinois, Iowa, 
Michigan and Ohio as a supply. He was a 
graduate of the Theological Seminary at 
Pittsbuigh, wliei'e he remained four years, and 
was also a graduate of a literary or secular col 
leoe. His widow is still liviu": in Hes Moines 
county, Iowa. They had a family of five 
childri'U, three of whom are now living — . 
Eobert J., James li. and Dr. William C. 

William Allen spent his younger days in 
school, and was raised upon a farm until he 
was about fourteen years ui age. He then 
attended school at Morning Sun, Iowa, for 
two years, and supplemented this with a 
course of about three years in the Washing- 
ton Academy, in Iowa. He then began the 
study of medicine with Dr. McCaughan, of 
Morning Sun, Iowa, and remained tiiere three 
year.s, after which he attended lectuies at 
the University, in Iowa City, and was gradu- 
ated in 1881. lie then began the practice 



250 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



of his chosen profession at Hopkinton, Iowa, 
and two years later, in 1883, he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and h)cated at Glenwood, 
wliere he has since lived. He has been veiy 
successful in Ids treatment of his cases, and 
is building up a lucrative practice. 

Dr. Allen was married in 1879 to Miss Eva 
M. Wallace, a native of Iowa, and a daugh- 
ter of Mathew Y. and Ellen J. (Johnson) 
Wallace, of Washington, Iowa. Their fam- 
ily consists of two children — Merrill M. and 
Ethel D. Dr. Allen is a strong prohibition- 
ist, politically. 



^^NDREAS L. BREVIG, one of Pope 
^5>^ county's best known and most highly 
esteemed citizens, is a resident of section -1-, 
Blue Mounds townsliip. lie is a native of 
Norwav, born February 7, 1849, and is a son 
of Lars and Anna (Olson) Brevig. who are 
natives of the same kingdom. The father 
learned the trade of a shoemaker, but upon 
coming to this country took up the occupa- 
tion of farming. They first went to Clayton 
county, Iowa, where tiiev remained three 
years, when they came to Po])e county, where 
tliey still live. Our subject received his edu- 
cation in the land <»f his birth, and at the 
age of eighteen he started for America in a 
sailing vessel, being five weeks and two davs 
in making the trip. After landing in Que- 
bec, Canada, he went to Iowa, as previously 
stated, and then came to Minnesota. 

Mr. Brevig was married in December, 1874, 
to Miss Anna Thon.pson, a native of Nor- 
way. She died in 1881, leaving two chil- 
dren, Annetta and Ludvig. and her husband 
to mourn her loss. She was buried in Wal- 
den township. Our subject has held the of- 
fices of county commissioner, supervisor and 
assessor for many years, and in political 
matters affiliates witii the repulilican jiartv. 
He has a third interest in his brother's store 



in Starbuck, and has an extensive farm of 500 
acres, with a comfortable house and good 
building imin-ovements, wind-mill. etc. He 
has a herd of from twenty-five to thirty head 
of Durham and Shorthorn cattle, and is en- 
gaged in general farming and stock-rais- 
ing. 

No man in the county stands higher in the 
esteem of the citizens than Mr. Brevig. He 
is a man of the strictest integrity, and one 
whose word is recognized as being as good 
as a bond. 



|pi\ETRiCK OLSON, an olil settler, and 
V^y prominent farmer, living on section 10 
of Chii)pewa Falls township, is a native of 
Norway, born in 1839, and a son of Olson 
and Betsey Olson, who were also natives of 
Norway. The father is now dead. The par- 
ents had six children — Alexander. Autinetta, 
Lena, Nellie. Rel)ecka and Louise. 

Our sul)ject, Detrick, was reared on a farm 
in Norway, receiving a common-school edu- 
cation, lie remained at home until he was 
twenty-four years of age. In lSfi9 he came 
to this country. sto]iping for a time at Que- 
bec, Canada, and from there, came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, taking a homestead, 
where lie now lives — eighty acres in section 
9, and 60 acres in section 4. He first erected 
a log cabin, in which he lived for a time; 
then, in 18'^4.built his present house, 16x24 
feet, with wing attached. He has a fine 
artificial grove surrounding his house. Tije 
place is one of much improvement and value, 
with good house barn and out-buiidings. 

Mr. Olson was married in 18(i4 to Miss Julia 
Gurgerson, to whom five children have been 
born — Ole, Julia, Annie, Amelia, Amanda. 

Mr. Olson is a staunch repui)lican, and one 
of the thoroughgoing representative men of 
his county. Botii he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



#DHN SWEENEY, a prosperous and liiglily 
estt'i'iiied t'ilizeii ol' l*o|)e county, is ii 
resident of section 2t>, Langhei township. 
He was boi'n in County Doneg-al, Ti-eland, in 
tlie yeai' ISKi. II(; ret-eived liis edut-alion in 
his native land, and at tlu' ai^c of thirty lie 
came to tiu3 Tnitcd States. lie first went to 
Phihidelphia, Pennsylvania, where lie re- 
mained for four years, and tlien removed to 
Camden, New Jersey. IJe stayed in that 
place for a jieriod of four years, and then went 
to Burlington, Iowa. After a seven years' 
sojourn in Burlington, Mr. Sweeney returned 
to Camden, where he lived until 1878. In 
1878, he removed to Pope county, Minnesota, 
and took a farm in Langhei township, on 
section 2<1, wliere he has since lived. While 
he was in Camden he was a '• moulder," but 
since his settlement in this county he has 
devoted himself- to farmingand stock-raising-. 
George Sweeney, the fatlier of our subject, 
was a native of Ireland, and was engaged in 
farming there until the time of his death. 

Mr. Sweeney was nuirrieil, Mairli 17, 
1847. to Miss Anna Boyce, and they have 
had the following children — James, ^larga- 
ret, Charles, Mary, Anna and Etta, all of 
whom are living. Mary and Anna are still 
single and live at home. James is in Buffalo, 
New York, engaged as a carpenter. Etta 
married Mr. Tracy, of Camden, New York, 
a blacksmith. Anna finished her education 
in Camden, and then came to Pope county, 
with her aunt. She is now a school teacher, 
having taught school for five years in Swift 
county, ilinnesota. before coming to Pope 
county. All of the children except two are 
school teachers. Mrs. Sweeney was born in 
County Donegal. Ireland, in the year 182^. 
and is the dauirhter of John and Mar<!ret 
Boyce, natives of Ireland, where the father 
died. She is one of ten children, four of 
whom are living. 

( >ur subject has a well-improved farm of 
280 acres, with good buildings. In political 



matters Mr. Sw(>ency is independent, voting 
for tlie i)est man rather than for creed. 

lie and Ins family are exemplary members 
of the (Jatliolic Church, and ai'e higid}^ es- 
teemed b}' all who kiK<w them. 



^»^ 



/^ HARLES T. KEE, one of the represent- 
^^^ ative men of Westport township, i-e- 
sides on the northwest quarter of section 7. 
He was born in Clark county, Ohio, October 
10, 1823, and is the son of Caleb and Ilacliael 
(Stevens) Kee, of Virginia. The parents 
were married in Ohio, and spent most of 
their lives there on a farm. They had a fam- 
ily of eight children, who grew to manhood 
and womanhood, and reared families of their 
own; but all have passed from earth, except 
one sister and the subject of this sketcli. The 
children were — Ilaehael, Elizebetli, William, 
Jatnes, Lucy, Sarah, Johannah and Charles. 
Lucy, the remaining sister, now lives in Tip- 
pecanoe county, liuliana. Our subject was 
reared in tlie same county of Indiana, and 
remained there until eighteen years of aire. 
In 1840 he commenced doing business for 
himself, in the lumbering trade. He followed 
it for fifteen 3'ears, principally above Still- 
water and on the Wisconsin River. In the 
fall of 1850 he went to California, where he 
remained for three years, miningand keeping 
a provision store. He returned to the States 
again for a short time, but again went to 
California, in 1860, remained one year and 
then enlisted in tlie Fifth Regiment of Cali- 
fornia Volunteers, lie served until Novem- 
ber, 1864, and was honorably discharged. 
His army service was mostly in skirmishing 
and (ijihting with the Indians. He left the 
service at Las Cruces, New Mexico. He re- 
turned via the plains to Chatfield. taking 
several men with him. Mr. Kee was mar- 
ried on the 2nd day of January, 1844, in 
Boone county, Illinois, to Miss Finetta 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



Vandewalker, fromerly of Steviben count}', 
New York. She was the daughter of Henry 
Vandewalker, a farmer, and was the fourth 
cliikl of a family of nine cliiklren. She was 
educated in Michigan and New York. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kee have been the parents of four 
cliildren— William IT., Franklin M. and Rob- 
ert S. (all of whom are married), and Truman 
Jasper who is deceased. Mr. Kee is a re]iub- 
lican, in his political belief. He belongs to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and is a class 
leader, steward and ti-ustee in that organiza- 
tion. 



'LARK S. SMITH, a representative and 
ksV successful faruu'i', resides on section 13, 
Leven townsiiip, where he is engaged in gen- 
eral farming and stock-raising. He is a na- 
tive of Arlington, Bennington county, Ver- 
mont, born April 1, 1S2J:, and is a son of 
Reuben and Nancy (Gilmore) Smith, natives 
of Connecticut, and New York, respectively. 
The parents were married in Bennington 
county, Vermont, and lived there all through 
their lives, except a few years spent in New 
York, and died in Vermont, the mother in 
1879 and the father in 1881. The father fol- 
lowed the business of a lumberman and man- 
ufacturer through life. The parents had a 
family of five children, four boys and one 
.rirl— Mary A., William E.. Clai'k S., Phillip 
R. and Franklin R. 

Clark S. Smith spent liis boyhood and 
school days in Vermont, and finished his edu- 
cation in Macoupin county, Illinois. He 
attended school until he was about seventeen 
years of age, and then engaged in farming. 
A few years later he engaged in the saw- 
mill and lumbering business in Jersey county, 
Illinois. He then engaged again in farming. 
In 1864 he came to JEinnesota and located 
upon a farm in Goodhue county, where he 
carried on stock-raising and general farm- 



ing for twelve yeai's. While living there he 
took an active and prominent part in all lo- 
cal puijlic affairs, was assessor of his town- 
ship, and held various school offices. In 
1876, he came to Pope county and purchased 
240 acres of land on section 13. Leven town- 
ship, where he now lives. He now owns 
480 acres, half of which lies in Westport 
townsiiip, and it forms one of the most val- 
uable farms in that portion of the county, 
being well improved. 

Mr. Smith was married in 1846 to Miss 
Mar\- Dolbow, and they are the parents of 
seven children — William. George, Norman, 
Edmund, Charles, Jennie and D<jra. Wil- 
liam married Alice Wiiitiu'''. and is enji'uK'ed 
ill farming in Leven township. George 
married Mabel Foster, and is now engaged in 
the railroad business. His wife died in 1880, 
leaving two children — Roy and Ethel. Nor- 
man married Ilattie Elliott, and is a farmer 
of Westport township. Edmund married 
Susan Hathaway, and is engaged in farming 
in Goodhue county. Charles married Mat- 
tie Townsend, and is farming in Leven town- 
ship. 

In political affairs Mr. Smith is a repub- 
lican. His first vote for President was cast 
for General Scott. 



-«-; 



"■aLE ERICKSON. one of the most active 



and substantial farmers of the town- 
ship of Gilchrist is a resident of section 8. 
He was born in Sweden, January 15, 1841, 
and remaine<1 in his native land, working on 
the home farm until 1867, when he came to 
the United States and stojiped in Goodhue 
county, Minnesota, for two years. He then, 
with an ox team and covered wagon, came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, being three 
weeks in making the journey, and took his 
present farm of IGO acres, where he has since 
remained. He now has a valuable farm of 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



253 



240 acres, besides a timber lot of five acres. 
He lias 120 acres under cultivation, has good 
building inipi'ovenients, and deals extensively 
in horses and stock. Our subject takes an 
active interest in all educational and public 
matters, and has held various local offices, 
such as school director, etc. He has also 
held the office of postmaster for nine years, 
and in ma n}^ ways his name is prominently 
identified with the official history of the 
townshiji. Mr. Erickson was married in 
December, 1802, to Miss Carrie Olson and 
they have the following children — Ole, Carl 
and Selma. Ole and Carfare studentsof the 
Willmar Lutheran Seminary and State 
Normal School at St. Cloud, respectively. 
Our subject and his family are honored and 
respected members of the Lutheran Church. 
In ])olitical mattei's Mr. Erickson is a staunch 
republican. 



-«"; 



JM^ANS PAULSON, a resident of section 
JL-^tl. !), l^lue Mounds township, is a native 
of Norway, born Afarch 2, 1842. Tie is a 
son of Paul Olson and Sena Paulson, who 
were also natives of that kingdom. The 
father died in 1885, and the mother is also 
deceased. They were both exemj)lary mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, and they left 
a family of seven children, the following of 
whom are living — Ole, I^iul, Johannas, 
Hans, Mary and Parbai'a. Three of tlie 
children are living in Norway and the 
remainder in this country. 

Oui- subject, Hans Paulson, came to the 
United States in 1869, and after landing in 
New York, he went to Vernon county, Wis- 
consin, where he remained six yeai-s. He 
then came to Pope county, Minnesota, where 
he has since remained. He was educated in 
his luitive land, and at the age of fifteen 
he left home for this country to carve his own 
wav in the worlil. 



Mr. Paulson was mai'ried in November, 
ISSy, to Miss Cari-ie Erickson, who was bom 
in Norway in 1844. and is a daughter of 
Erick Amundson, a farmer in the old world. 
Ller father's family consisted of ten children; 
those living are — Ingebar, Carrie, Mary, 
Anna, Ole and Ellen. Carrie received her 
education in her native land, and came to the 
United States in 1870. 

Our subject and wife are members of the 
Lutiieran Church. In political mattei-s i\Ir. 
Paulson is a republican. He is a man of the 
strictest honoi' and integrity, and is hi^hlv 
esteemed by all who know him. IJe has a 
fine farm of 3(!U acres, with oood buildincr 
improvements, and is engaged extensively » 
in general farming and stock-raising. 

— - ^ -i^i^-^— 

,M^NDREW EMERSON, a jjrominent and 
jp^ successful farmer of Pope county, re- 
sides on section 27, Rolling Fork township. 
He is a native of Noi-wa}', born at Woogie, 
Gudbransdaleii. in Woogie county, April 13, 
1831, and is the son of Emmer and Anna 
(Ols(jn) Anderson, who were also natives of 
that kingdom. Our subject lived with his 
parents during his boyhood days, working 
on the home farm. In lSti4 he came to the 
United States, settling first in McIIenry 
county, Illinois, where he remained twoyears. 
While there he was engaged in various occu- 
pati(ms, and afterleaving that place, he went 
to Sherburne county, Minnesota, where he 
worked for six or seven years at anything 
that turned up. Leaving there he came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and rented a farm 
in Rolling Fork townsiiip. and after two 
years he rented another faini, which he con- 
tinued to run for a period of seven j'ears. 
He then Ixiugiit a farm of 100 acres, on sec- 
tion 27, Polling Fork township, where he has 
since lived. Although our subject has seen 
hard times, and was a poor man on his ar- 



254 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



rival ill tills c-ounti'v, lie has, by good manage- 
ment ami tliat thrift, energy and economy 
which so distinguish the people of hisnation- 
alitv. placed himself in his present comforta- 
ble circumstances. One year he lost 240 
acres of wheat by the '' hoppers," and an- 
other year lost seventy acres of excellent 
wheat. He has now seventy acres under 
cultivation, owns seven horses, fifty-eight 
head of cattle, with a neat frame house and 
other buildings. 

The subject of this sketch was married in 
Febrnary, 1S59, to Miss liena Olson, daughter 
of ( >le knuteson and Carrie Thorson, and 
thev have been blessed with the following 
children — E miner, Rena, Ole, Anna, Paul- 
ina, Mena and Bertha. Eena is married to 
Haagen Olson, and lives in Rolling Fork 
township. 

Mr. Emerson is a man of the utmost in- 
teority and honor, and has been honored 
with the following offices — school clerk, 
supervisor in Sherburne county, overseer, 
school treasurer, etc. 

Our subject and his family are exemplary 
members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, 
of which society he is trustee. Our subject 
IS a republican in his political affiliations. 



— .^ 



ARTIN WARD, proprietor of the 



f^tj^rlL Olenwood House, is one of the 
leading and most substantial business men 
at the county seat. For a number of years 
he has been engaged in business at Glen- 
wood, and has become well and favorably 
known throughout the entire county as a 
courteous, careful and capable business man, 
a man of the strictest integrity, and one 
whose word is recognized as being as "good 
as a l)ond." Mr. Ward was born at Cazeno- 
via, New York, November 2, 1848, and is a 
son of John and Alarv (Broderick) Ward, 
who were natives of Ireland. His parents 



came to the United States while young and 
were married at Cazenovia in 184T. The 
father. John Ward, was engaged in farming 
in the " Empire State " until 1850, when he 
sold out and removed to Janesville, Wiscon- 
sin, and there engaged in freighting to Prai- 
rie du Chien and Dubuque, which he con- 
tinued f(jr about nine vears. This was before 
the advent of railroads in that section. In 
1859 they removed to Anoka, Minnesota, 
where the father traded some city ])roperty 
in Janesville for a farm near Anoka, where he 
now lives. He owns one of the largest 
farms in that region, and has made fine 
building improvements. Of late years he 
has retired from the active cares of business, 
but has always been a jirominent factor in 
the afFairs of the localit\^ in which he resides, 
taking an active interest in all educational 
and public matters. John Ward and wife 
were the parents of eight children, six of 
whom are now living — Martin, John, Jo- 
seph, William, Maria and Hannah. John 
makes his home with his father, and is en- 
gaged in the lumber business ; Jose})h is 
proprietor of the Merchant's Hotel at Ben- 
son ; William is a farmer in Anoka county: 
Maria married William Kelly, a farmer in 
Anoka county, and Hannah married James 
Ackerson, who is engagetl in the lumber bus- 
iness at Anoka. 

Martin Ward,whose name heads this article, 
spent his boyhood days at home, and received 
his education in the schools of the locality and 
at St. Anthony, or East Minneapolis. When 
he was fifteen years of age he went to the 
headwaters of the Rum River, where he 
worked in the lumber business for five years, 
interspersed witli working on the farm. 
AVhen twenty-two years of age he purchased 
an interest in a threshing machine, and for 
three years operated it very successfully. 
In 1872 he sold out and accepted a position 
as clerk in the Treinont House, in East Min- 
neapolis. He remained at this a little over a 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



255 



year, ami tlieu engaged in railroad work, 
becoming overseer of a gang of men on the 
Minneapolis & St. Louis, and then on the 
IManitoba Eaihvav, and later superintended 
getting out railroad ties. 

After two years spent in this way he took 
charge of a farm in Anoka county, belong- 
ing to S. L. Gale. Two years later he re- 
turned to his former business, and became 
clerk in the Kimball House, in Anoka, where 
he remained one year. He was then taken 
sick and for live months was unable to re- 
sume hibor. Upon his recovery he purchased 
horses and went to Benson, where ho opened 
a livery and sale stable. In 1882 he I'e- 
moved his business to Glenwood and rented 
the Glenwood Hotel Ijarn, and has carried 
on the livery business ever since. In 1885 
he rented the Glenwood House for three 
years, with the privilege of buying, and be- 
fore seven months had elapsed he purchased 
the property, and still owns and conducts 
the house. The building is 132x116 feet in 
size, at present, as he has thoroughly over- 
hauled it and rebuilt a portion of it. The 
house is roomy and comfortable and well 
furnisiied. It is, without question, the best 
managed hotel in tin; count3% and has a 
large and constantly increasing patronage. 
■\[r. Ward, from his years of experience, is a 
thorough hotel man, and as he owns the 
property, he takes the utmost pains and cai'e 
to maintain the excellent reputation which 
the house has attained undei'hisnuvnagemcnt. 
As Glenwootl is fast becoming a well- 
known [)lcasure resort, each succeeding sum- 
mer linds the (ilenwood House well tilled 
with summer tourists. The hotel is supplied 
with water from the sjjrings, as described 
elsewhere in this work; sample rooms have 
been opened in connection, and withal it is 
but justice to sa}' that the liou.«ie is (irst-class 
in all particulars. 

()ursul)ject was married in 1SS;>, to Miss 
Marv E. (tale, a native of Anoka countv, 



Minnesota, and they are the parents of one 
child — Hazel M. Mr. Ward is a democrat in 
his political views, and a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. He lias always taken 
an active interest in all ])ul)lic affairs, and 
has served as member of the village council, 
etc. 

Jfrs. Ward is a daughter of Smith L. and 
Anoie (Stevens) Gale, natives of Maine and 
New Hampshire, respectively. Her father 
was a contractor in ])ainting while living in 
the East. He came West in 1857, and 
located in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he re- 
sumed his profession. In 1859 he removed 
with his family to a homestead, which he 
had taken in Anoka county, although he 
continued his contracting in Minneapolis and 
St. Paul. He was the largest contractor in 
the cities, and employed a great many men 
during the summer seasons. He followed 
this until 1875, improving his homestead in 
the mean time and keeping a foreman to at 
tend to his farm intei-ests. He then sold 
that place, and made other purchases of some 
three farms, so that he now owns some ;l(iO 
aci'es, and is rated as one of the most exten- 
sive hoi'se and cattle dealers in that county. 
He is a strong repul)lican, a careful and suc- 
cessful business man, and one of the most 
solid and suiistantial citizensof Anoka county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gale have a family of three 
children— Mary E. (now Mrs. Ward), Charles 
and Susie. 



^«« 



►.^^ 



t«lDREW KJOS, one of the oklest and 
most highly i-espected settlei-s in the 
southeastern part of the county, resides on 
section Ifi, Lake Johanna township. He 
was born in the city of Skein, Norwax', Octo- 
ber 2, 18+1, and is a son of Andrea.s and 
^faria (Helena) Kjos, both of Norway. 
Our subject attended school in his native 
land iiiilil he was eight years of age, when 



256 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



he came with his parents to the United 
States. Tliey hmded in New Yoi'k City and 
moved to Albany, New York. From tliere 
tliey went to Buffalo, New York, tiien up the 
Erie Canal, and on the lakes to Milwaukee, 
AVisconsin. They then went with an ox team 
to Walworth county, Wisconsin, a distance 
of sixt}^ miles. They remained there for 
four or five years, when they again moved, 
with ox team and all their possessions. They 
crossed tlie Wisconsin River in a ferry boat, 
and the Mississippi River at Prairie Du Chein, 
Iowa, and then passing up through Iowa, 
located in Goodhue county, Minnesota. 
From there our subject soon came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead on 
section 22, Lake Johanna township, but, fail- 
ing to prove up on it, took school land on 
section 10, where he is at present residing. 
Tiie father, who was a farmer, died at the 
age of sixty-three in Walworth county, Wis- 
consin, and the mother died at the age of 
fifty in Goodhue county, Minnesota. They 
\\e\'% members of the Luthei-an Church. 

Our subject had tiie following brothers 
and sisters — Thomas, Hans J., Casper J., 
Anna, Hans and CarptM'. When our subject 
came to the county there were but seven other 
settlers in the township, and his early days 
were occupied in hunting and trapping. 
Elk and deer were very numerous, and on 
one trip Mr. Kjos killed three elk. During 
the first year he had to go to Pa^'nesville, 
Minnesota, for provisions, and used to be two 
days with an ox team in making tiie trip. At 
another time, money being so scarce, he, with 
a neighbor, took a cow, as legal tender, to 
Paynsville to secure provisions. 

Our subject was married, December 20, 
1S63, to Miss Letta- Ilalvorson, a native of 
Norway, and they have five children — Al- 
fred, Carl, Hans, Ida and Frederick. They 
are members of the Lutheran Church, of 
which he is a trustee. Mr. Kjos is a repre- 
sentative man of his township and has held 



the offices of constable and supervisor. He 
has a fine farm, with good improvements, 
and is an enei-getic citizen, highh' esteemed 
b}' all who know him. Mr. Kjos has always 
been an adherent to the principles of the re- 
publican party. 



-•*" 



TfeAVOISURE STEBBINS, one of the many 
J!^^ "boys in blue" who found homes in 
Pope county, is a respected and highly es- 
teemed citizen of Walden township, residing 
on section 28. He was born at Homer, Cort- 
land county. New York, and is a son of 
Almus and Palmyra (Hubbardj Stebbins. 

Receiving an academic education, our sub- 
ject finished school and went to California, 
where he was engaged in mining and in the 
freighting business for three years and nine 
months. He experienced the best of success 
while there at first, but was taken sick, his 
means exhausted, and he was forced to re- 
turn home. 

Mr. Stebbins then was engaged in farming 
at Homer, New York, until 1861, when he 
enlisted in Com])any D, Seventy-sixth New 
York Volunteer Infantry. King's Division, in 
the First Army Corps, Armj"^ of the Poto- 
mac. He was in General Pope's campaign 
in Virginia, under McClellan at South Moun- 
tain and at Antietam and Culpeper Court 
House. He was also under Burnside at 
Fredericksburg, and under Hooker at Chan- 
cellorsville. His regiment opened the en- 
gagement at Gettysburg, and it was thei-e 
that a bullet struck his carti-idge box. explod- 
iii"- the cartrido-es but, fortunately, iniurino: 
no one. Tiie following are tiie battles in 
which the subject of this bi<_)gra|ihy partici- 
pated — Ra])pahannock. August 21, 1802; 
Warrenton, Suli)hur Springs, August 20, 
1S02; Gainesville, August 28, 1802; Second 
Bull Run, August 29 and 30, 1802 ; Snickers' 
Ga[), November 1 to 3, 1862 ; Fredericksburg, 



rOPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



257 



December 12 and 13, 1862; Clumcellorsville, 
May 1 to 5, 1803 ; Gettysburg, July 1 to 4, 
lSt)3 ; Mine Kun, November 27, 18(i3 ; A\"ilder- 
ness, May 5 and 6, 1S('.4; Laurel Hill, May 
8, ISU-l; Spotsylvania, May 12,1864; North 
Anna or Jericiio Ford, ^fay 24, 1864; Ptol- 
omy Creek, June 1, 1864; Cold Harbor, 
June 3 to 5, 1864; I'etersburg, June 18, 
1864; Weldon Eailroad, August 18 to 21, 
1864 ; Poplar Grove Church, September 30, 
1S64, and Ilatdier's Run. October 28,1864. 
'While at Fredericksburg he was hit with a 
])iece of shell and left on the field as dead. 
At Petersburg he was wounded on the top 
of his head. 

After the war closed lie went at farming 
at Homer, Kew York, in which he engaged 
for three 3'ears when he sold out and went 
to Cincinnatus, New York, where he lived 
for five yeai-s. lie then went to Solon, New 
York, where he engaged in the mercantile 
trade for two years. In July, 187o, he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, taking a soldier's 
honu'stead on section 28, Walden township. 

Ml'. Stel)ljins u-as married Fel)ruary 28, 
1850, to Miss Louisa Paulina Matterson, of 
Homer, New York, and they have been 
Ijiessed with three children — George Calvin, 
Charlie Luzerm anil Alljeit Matterson. Mr. 
Stei)l)ins is a man of tiie utmost integrity 
and iionor, and has helil numerous important 
otHces in his townshij). He has served as 
chaii'uian of supervisors, justice of the ])eace, 
and has also been churcli trustee. He is 
commander of C. H. Hunter Post, Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

In April, 1863, he received a commission 
as second lieutenant in the service arul on the 
3(>tii of November, 1864, he receivetl a cap- 
tain's commission. lie was honorably dis- 
charged Decern i)er 1, 1S04. 

In religious matters our subject is an at- 
tendant of the Conorejrational Church, and 
politically he atliliates with the republican 
party. 



AMUEL OLSON. The subject of the 
present article, a resident of section 4, 
is one of the most intelligent and highly 
respected farmers and stock-raisers of Ilotf 
township. Mr. Olson was born in Noi-way 
on the 26th of May, 1846, and is a son of Ole 
and Bertha (Olson) Olson. His parents both 
died in the land of their birth, the father 
dying in 1877. The parents had a family of 
five children — Ole, Nels, Samuel. Oli and 
Mary — all of whom are still living, two 
of them being residents of the United 
States. 

Samuel Olson, our present subject, spent 
his boyhood days in his native land and there 
received his education and drill as to indus- 
try and integrity which area part of the dis- 
position of people of his race. In 1872 he 
sailed to the United States, and after a voy- 
age of twelve da^'s landed at Castle Garden, 
New York City. He proceeded at once to 
Chicago, but later went to Indiana, where he 
remained for two months, engaged in railroad 
vvork. His next move was to Michigan but 
eio-hteen months later he came to Minnesota 
and settled in Mowercounty. For two ^'eai-s 
he was engaged there at farm lal)or, and then 
went to St. Croix county, Wisconsin, where, 
for three yeai's, he was engaged princijially at 
mason work. At the expii-ation of the time, 
in 1880, he came to Pope county, jMinnesota. 
and purchased eight}' acres of railroad land 
on section 33, Walden township. He now has 
240 acres of land in liotT townshij), where he 
has successfully carried on farming and stock- 
raising. 

Mr. Olson was married on the 12th of 
December, 1884, to Miss Andrena Moe, a 
native of Norway, and a daughter of Peter 
Moe. Mr. and Mrs. Olson are the parents of 
two children — named Peter and Bertha 
Antona. Tlie family are members of the 
Lutheran Churcli and are exemplaiy Chris- 
tians. Our subject is a republican in political 
mattei-s. 



258 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



John W. Frederick, u prominent tann- 
er, now living on section 3, Glen wood 
township, is a native of Tioga county, Peiin- 
s\'lvania, born February 24, 1834. He is the 
son of John W. and Amelia (Hinely) Fred- 
erick, who were natives of Union county, 
Pennsylvania. Early in life the father en- 
gaged in the trade of wagon and carriage- 
making, but later on in life devoted his time 
to farming. He served as captain of the 
militia for a number of years, and was county 
commissioner, sherifif, and filled various other 
offices. He was well and favorably known 
in both Tioga and Union counties, and a man 
of much ability and prominence.' They had 
a family of two sons and seven daughters, all 
grown to manhood and womanhood — Eliza- 
beth, now Mrs. Cole; Esther, afterward Mrs. 
Bryon, (deceased); George; Catharine, after- 
ward IMrs. l>rant, (deceased) ; Mary, now 
Mrs. Bryon ; Lydia, ^Mrs. Lloyd ; John AV.; 
Effie, Mrs. Bnuit ; and Leah, afterward Mrs. 
Thomas (deceased). The fatherand mother 
were faithful members of the Lutheran 
Church, and reared their family up in the 
same good faitli. 

The subject of this biographical sketch, 
John AV. Frederick, attended school and 
woi'ked on his father's farm until about 
twenty -one years old. In the autumn of 
1S56 became to Hennepin county, Minnesota, 
where he purchased 100 acres of land and be- 
gan farming for himself. He continued this 
until 1863, when he enlisted in Company E, 
Heavy Artillery, of ilinnesota. He was in 
the service until tiie fall of 1865, seeing and 
enduring much severe hardship, coincident 
to army life in a time of war. Upon his re- 
turn, he again went to farm life, selling his 
farm in 1877 and moving to Swift county. 
He remained there until the fall of 1881, 
when he broke uj) housekeeping and went 
into the employ of the Minneapolis Harves- 
ter Works, remaining in that tiiree years. 
In 1883, he was married to Mrs. Clara 



Strange, of Dover Center, Olmsted county. 
Minnesota. Shorth'' after his niari'iage, he 
came to Po])e county and located where he 
now lives. He has 240 acres in Glenwood 
township, all of which he has put under a 
fine state of cultivation. He is largely en- 
gaged in grain and stock-raising. He values 
his farm at $5,000. 

Mr. Frederick's family consists of the 
following children — Mary, Eva, George, 
Ida L., John F. and Clara. The first three 
named — Mary, Eva and George — were chil- 
dren of Mrs. Fredericks by a former mar- 
riage. Ida L. is an adopted child, while 
John F. and Clara are cluldren of INIr. and 
Mrs. I'rederick. 

All'. Frederick has held manv of the local 
offices within his township. He is a worthy 
brother of King Solomon Lodge, Xo. 44, 
of the Masonic fraternity, at Shakopee, 
Alinnesota. He is also an active member of 
the Grand Army of the Eepublic, and takes 
a lively interest in county and State politics, 
he being a republican in his political belief. 

During his army service Mr. Frederick 
greatly impaired his health and contracted 
diseases from which he has never recovered. 
He was mustered into the service at St. Paul. 
The command to which his i-egiment was 
attached operated mostly in Tennessee. 
Our subject participated in many skirmishes, 
besides a number of important battles, in- 
cluding those at Stone Eiver, Chickamauga, 
and Knoxville. During the latter part of 
the war Air. Frederick was taken sick, and, 
in 1865, came home on a furlough. Before 
his return, the war closed and lie received an 
honorable discharge. 



/'.=A,BEL D. REEVES, deceased, was one of 
tlie very first actual settlei's to locate 
in tlie northern part of Pope county, and his 
widow, who still resides on their original 



rOPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



259 



farm, is uiuloiibtedly the oldest settler now 
living in Wiiite Bear Lake to\vnshi|). Mr. 
Reeves was a native of Ohio, born December 
5, 1824. When he was a child his parents 
removed, with tiie family, to Bartholomew 
county, Indiana, where (jur subject remained 
until seventeen \'ears of age, and then went 
to Cook county, Illinois. Thci-e lie was mar- 
ried and remained for a lunnber of years. In 
1852 he left home and went lo California, 
going by team overland. They started with 
horses, but at Fort Kearney these animals 
gave out. and they were ti'aded for oxen, 
and they were six months en route. Mr. 
Reeves was engaged in freighting, mining, 
etc., and finally, aftei- thi-ee years' absence, 
returned to his home l)V water via New 
York City. In 1803 Mr. Reeves removed 
from Illinois to Olmsted county, Minnesota, 
where he bought a farm. Early in 186(5 he 
sold out, and on the 22d of INfay, left there 
for Rope county, accomjianied by Nelson 
Wilson. At St. Charles they fell in with J. 
J. Crouse, and all came through together, 
arriving in White Bear Lake township, July 
5, having spent some time in looking over 
the country. At that time the county was 
not organized, and there was not a house on 
the present site of Glen wood, they having 
camped there for several days while look- 
ing over the countr}'. All took claims in 
White Bear Lake township, l\rr. Reeves se- 
lecting his on section 12. on the old trail from 
St. Cloud to Fort Wadsworth. Crouse left 
the same fall, but Wilson remained here until 
1877. Mr. Reeves had brought with him 
four yoke of oxen, nine head of stock, fifteen 
slieep and such farming tools as could be 
loaded on the wagons. He at once began 
improvements, breaking eight acres of land 
during that season and otherwise getting 
things in shape, but the family lived in a 
tent until fall, when acabin was ei-ected. At 
the time the claim was taken their nearest 
neighbor was four miles distant. The near- 



est postoffice and trading point was Sauk 
Center, thirty miles distant, and there was 
only one settler on the road. 

The following winter a settlement was 
made at Glen wood, and a store and hotel es- 
tal)lishcd. As their claim was on the old 
trail, in the spring of 1867 Mr. Reeves es- 
tablished a station at his cabin, and for a 
year this was one of the sto|)ping ])laces, but 
in 1868 the road was changed so as to run a 
mile further north, and this did away with 
the station. When the county was organized, 
in the fall of 1866, White Bear Lake town- 
ship was organized, including a number of 
adjoining townships, and Mr. Reeves was 
elected as the first town treasurer. During 
the first few years Indians were numerous, 
especially in the spring and fall, and they 
would frequently come to the cabins of the 
settlers for provisions. Mr. Reeves remained 
upon his oi'iginal claim until the time of his 
death, on the 5th of November, 1876. 

Mrs. Reeves was formerly Miss Adah Ilar- 
rington. a daughter of Joseph and Rachel 
Harrington, and a native of the State of 
New York. When she was eight years of 
age. in 1832. her i)arents I'emoved to Cook 
county, Illinois, by wa\' of the canal and the 
lakes. Chicago was then but a mere village, 
without a single frame house on the site, and 
her father could have taken a homestead of 
land that is now in the very heart of the 
city. Mr. Harrington took a Government 
claim twenty-two miles south of Chicago. 
When Adah was fourteen years of age, they 
removed to Kane county, Illinois, where she 
lived with her parents until her marriage 
with Mr. Reeves, December 22, 1842. 

Ml', and Mrs. Reeves were the jiarents of 
nine children, as follows — Rachel J., now 
Afrs. Fred Brush, of Yellow Medicine county, 
Minnesota; Jonathan, who died when twen- 
tv-eight years of age; Thursey, who died 
when four yeai*s old ; Susan, now ^[rs. Jacob 
Berry, of Oregon ; James II., of Fairfield, 



26o 



POPE COUNTY, MIA'.VPSOTA. 



Swift county, Minnesota; Jolin C, of Star- 
bucli ; Ada F., now Mrs. Charles Rowe, of 
Westport, Pope count}'; Martlm M., now 
Mrs. George Tliomas, of Westport ; and 
Steven L., who is still at home. 



«^- 



JjOHN C. BLAIR, tiie subject of our present 
j^ article, is a respected fanner and stock- 
raiser, residing on section 23, Reno town- 
ship. He was born in Canada West, 
November 4, 1851, and is a son of James 
and Eliza Jane (Peacock) Blair. His parents 
were born in Canada, and were reared and 
married there. They are still living, being 
ni)W residents of Leven township. Pope 
county. Tiie parents had a family of ten 
children, six boys and four girls, as follows — 
John, Jane, William, James, Rebecca, 
George, Margaret, Samuel, Elizabeth and' 
Joseph. Joseph was scalded to death when 
only two and a half years of age. Elizabeth 
was drowned in the lake, near her father's 
place, when thirteen years of age. 

John C. Rlair, our present sul)ject, re- 
ceived his education and grew to manhood 
in Canada, and came to Pope county with 
his parents at an early day, settling in what 
is now Leven township. He has remained 
in the count}' since that time, and now 
carries on a farm of 160 acres, on section 
2.3, Reno township. He is independent of 
parties in his political views, and has always 
taken an active interest in all public matters. 
For three terms he served as one of the 
supervisors of his township, and may well 
be classed among the leading and repre- 
sentative farmers of the northei-n part of 
the county. 

Mr. Blair was married, December 11, 1877, 
to Miss Winona Moyer, and their union has 
been blessed with four children — William J., 
Georoe H., Buiiiice E.. and an infant. 
William J., the tirst-named, died in infancy. 



Mrs. Blair was born in Scott county, Min- 
nesota, November 6, 1861, and is a daughter 
of William and Christina (Martin) Moyer. 
Her parents were both natives of Penn- 
sylvania. They came to Minnesota at an 
early day, and located in Scott county, and 
later removed to Pope county, where they 
still live. In their family there were three 
children — Henr}' O., Winona and Dora E. 



"*► 



'^m^HOMAS D. DAVIDSON, a prominent 
XJliJ and influential citizen of Pope county, 
and the most extensive land o\\ ner in Bangor 
township, resides on section 27 of that civil 
subdivision of Pope county. He was l)orn 
in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Octo- 
ber 13, 1858, and is the son of Thomas and 
Helen (Morrisson) Davidson. He was edu- 
cated in the city of his birth, and at the age 
of eighteen be learned the trade of ship- 
building, which be followed for five years. 
For the next two years he followed the life 
of a sailor, after which he was engaged in 
tiie hunber business in Milwaukee. At the 
expiration of five years he bought a farm 
ten miles north of Milwaukee, on which he 
remained for some three years, when he sold 
out and came to Pope county, Minnesota. 
This was in September, 1885. He at once 
commenced accumulating land, and now Inis 
1,880 aci'es on sections 27, 34, 35 and 36. 
His building improvements are among the 
finest in the county, and are a credit to his 
enterprise. He has the largest barn in the 
county. The farm has been brought to a 
liitrh state of cultivation, and it is safe to 
say that it is one of the most valuable, as 
well as one of the most extensive, in this 
pai't of the State. 

Mr. Davidson was married on the 16th of 
December, 1881, to Miss Rose Boyd. She 
was a native of Grafton, Wisconsin, and was 
a daughter of Rinord Boyd, a farmer ami 



POPE COUNTY. Ml AWE SOT A. 



26 1 



carjientcr of tliat place. Their union lias 
been blessed with two children — llaymond 
and Florence — -who are still at home. 

Mr. Davidson has always taken an active 
and prominent ])art in all pul)lic matters, 
and has held several of the local offices, 
such as township treasurer, etc. In political 
matters he affiliates witli the i'('pul)lican 
pai'ty. 



/\A ICHAEL PETERSON, a prosperous 
_1>.''^\^ anil highly esteemed farmer, resid- 
ing on section 25, Ben ^^'a(le township, is a 
nativeof Norway, lie was born in Tronyem 
Stift, November 9, 1835, and is a son of 
Petei- and Ellon Klaboa, who were also" na- 
tives of that kingdom. Our sul)ject lived on 
the farm with his parents until he was about 
thirty veal's of age when he bought a farm, 
on which he remained until ISfio. During 
the year ISOo, he sold out and came to the 
United States, settling first in Winneshiek 
county, Iowa, where he worked for farmers 
from July until the following May. Michael 
then came with an ox team to Pope county, 
Minnesota, being on the road one mcmtii. 
After coming here he took a homestead on 
section 25, in Ben Wade townsiii[», whei'e he 
has since remained. He had but little means 
oncoming to this country, Init by tliat energy 
and economy whicii su distinguish his nation- 
ality he has placed himself in comfortable 
circumstances. He was forced to borrow 
tifty dollars of a friend in Iowa, and during 
his first year in ^linnesota he lived in his 
wagon and wfn'kcd for farmers to support 
his family. Mr. Peterson now owns half a 
section of land and a neat, comfortable 
cottage residence, nestled in a dense artificial 
grove of his own planting. He lias a large 
barn, with stone i)asenient, and also a good 
granary ami other buildings, and is rated as 



one of the most reliable farmers in the 
county. 

The subject of this memoir was married 
February 20, 1858, to Miss Oleva Hatling, a 
daughter of Mosten and Beret Forness. 
They have been blessed with the following 
children — Peter, Hannah, Mary Ann, Knima, 
Marstina and Oscar. Mr. Petcu'son holds the 
office of supervisor. He affiliates with the 
republican party in his jiolitics. He and 
his famih' are exomjilary members of the 
Norwegian Lutheran Oliurch. 

In the Old World Mr. Peterson, according 
to the customary ari'angement in that coun- 
tiy, went by the farm name of Hatling. 



-■*-! 



d)ETER W. JOHNSON, a thoroughgoing 
farmer, wlio owns an extensive farm 
on sections 9 and 16, Grove Lake township, 
was born in 1839, in Canada. His parents 
were Jacob and Mary (Warren) Johnson, na- 
tives of the same country. The father was 
a blacksmitii, and followed his trade for a 
livelihood, teaching the same to iiis son, 
Peter W. The family was made up of par- 
ents and eight children, seven now living — 
Thomas. Peter W., Elizabeth, Edmund, Mag- 
gie, Samuel and Sarah. 

Our subject worked at the forge and anvil 
for some years, and in 1870 came to this 
country, settling in St. Croix county, Wis- 
consin, where he engaged in farming. In 
1880 lie jturchased IfiO acres of land in (ti-ovc 
Lake township, Pope county, Minnesota, and 
in 1882 bought another (piarter section, and 
moved here. As he prospered he still in- 
vested in lands — 160 acres in tlie east part of 
the township, and eigiity acres of meadow 
land in the southern part of Grove Lake, be- 
sides 400 acres purchased in Stearns and 
Pope counties, Minnesota, making a total of 
960 acres, which he owns at this writing. 



262 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



Mr. Johnson is a representative man of the 
coiuUy. He is a democrat in politics, and 
Ijclongs to the Masonic fraternity. lie mar- 
ried Rivanah S. Ilutchins, of Canada, who is 
the dauf^hter of William and Margret (Em- 
pey) Ilulcliins, natives of New York and 
Canada. Her father was a farmer and a 
lumbei'ma-n, and was at one time sheriff of 
the county in wiiich he lived. They had ten 
children, the following of whom are now liv- 
ing — Nelson, Ciiarlotte, now Mrs. Gillard ; 
Caroline, now Mrs. Barr ; Morgan ; Alice, now 
Mrs. Cheney ; and Rivanah S., now ]\Irs. 
Johnson. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the jiarents of 
ten children now living, and one deceased — 
Nellie; Lillie, now Mrs. John Servis(wlio lias 
two ciiildi'en — Fi-ankie J. and Alice M.) ; 
William M., Franklin (deceased), Minnie j\[., 
Annie M., Maggie E., Percy W., Frank ie M., 
Arthurs and Grace M. Franklin was nearly 
eight years old when he died. 



/^LEK OVERSON is a prosperous farmer, 
Jj"^ residing on section .32, Glenwood 
township, near the sh(3res of Lake Minne- 
waska. lie was born about eighteen miles 
west of Christiania, Norway, November 17, 
1839, and is the son of Over and Julia 
(Alekson) Overson, both of whom are na- 
tives of that country. Our subject com- 
menced life for himself when he was about 
seventeen by working for farmers, working 
in the jjineries of Norway, and driving a 
stage. When about twenty he came to 
America and met with a number of misfor- 
tunes while on tlic way to Minnesota. On 
reaching Chicago lie decided to buy himself 
a suit of clothes, but tlie un])rincipled mer- 
chants with whom he dealt changed his hard 
earned wages for counterfeit money. Start- 
ing for St. Paul, and taking the river he was 



unfortunate in havin"' his trunk broken into 
and his clothes stolen. Being forced to get 
off the boat on account of inability to pay 
his passage, he walked from Red Wing to 
Dakota county, Minnesota, where he had 
friends. 

He remained in Dakota county foi" seven 
years, engaged in various kinds of work. 
The first year he was there he worked for 
farmers and the next year took a farm on 
shares, and during the fall of the same year 
vffn a threshing machine. During the rest 
of his stay there he was employed in va- 
rious occupations, in the pineries, etc. After 
leaving tiiei'e he came to Pope county, Min- 
nesota, and took a homestead of li>0 acres 
on section 32, Glenwood township, and also 
took ten acres on the shores of Lake Minne- 
waska. 

Our subject was mai'ried in January, 1876, 
to Anna J. Olson, a, daughter of Ole J. and 
Betsey Hazen. They have four children, as 
follows — Gustaf Owens, Bei'tha, Josephine 
Marie and John. Alek's father and mother 
are both dead, his father dying in the Old 
World, and his mother dying soon after 
reaching this country. He has been school 
treasurer, and is one of the most energetic 
and trustworthy men that Pope county pos- 
sesses. 



r-^- 



^IjJI^ORGUS JOHNSON, a resident of sec- 
yt7 tion 3, Barsness township, is one of 
the many brave " boys in blue," who found 
homes in Pojje county, and is also one of the 
most intelligent and jirominent citizens in 
the township in which he lives. 

Mr. Johnson was born in Christian-Sand 
Stift, Norway, August 11, ISJ-l, and is a son 
of John and Bergit (Anderson) Toi'guson, 
who were also natives of the same kingdom. 
When our subject was but a lad of seventeen 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



263 



he left home to eai'ii liis own way in the 
world. In the mean time, while lie was an 
inlant — only eighteen months old — he was 
brought to the United States by his parents, 
and they settled at Muskego, Wisconsin. 
Three years later they removed to the town 
of Pleasant Springs, in Dane county, Wis- 
consin, and settled on a fai'iii one mile from 
Fii'st Lake, where the parents remained until 
the time of their deatli. On the lltli of 
August. 18r>2, our subject enlisted in Com- 
))any D, Twenty-Third Wisconsin Infantry, 
and served for three years— the first in 
active service; the second year he was sick 
in the hospitals; and the third he was again 
in active service. For two months, while in 
the hospital at St. Louis, he was blind, but 
upon his recovery he again returned to his 
i-egiment. Besides many skirmishes our sub- 
ject participated in seven hard fought bat- 
tles, including Yicksburg, Chickasaw Bayou, 
Mississippi ; Arkansas Post, Arkansas; Cyp- 
ress Bend, Arkansas ; (irand Bluff, Missis- 
sippi: Spanish Fort. Alabama; and Fort 
lilakely. Alabama. He was lionoraiily dis- 
charged at .Mobile, Alabama, .luly 4, 1865, 
and foi' disabilities contractetl in the service 
he now di'aws a pension of if^PiO per month. 
After his discharge from the service he re- 
turned to his home and worked for neighbor- 
ing farmers until 1 SOS, when he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead on 
section 3, in (Miippewa Falls, township. In 
1879, he sold out and settled on section a, 
Barsness township, where he has since lived, 
lie owns a valuable farm of 169 acres, and 
has comfortable building improvements. In 
public affairs Mr. Johnson has been one of 
the most prominent men in the tow-nship in 
which he has lived, and has held a great 
many offices, including those of township 
clerk, justice of the peace, supervisor, treas- 
urer and assessor, also school clerk and 
treasurer. 
Out subject was married in October, 1866, 



to Miss Anna Ilendrickson, a dauiiliter of 
Hondrick and Sarah (Munson) Mickelson. 
Their union has been blessed with the follow- 
ing children — John Olaus, Bertha, Henry, 
Torgus, Martin, Andrew. Alfred, Gillard. 
Ililma and Gavlonl. llilina is dead. 



■*- 



«c*- 



#DSEPH PEACOCK, sheriff, and a i>r()m- 
inent citizen of (ilenwood, is one of the 
mosi popular and wiilely known men in 
Pope county. Having been a citizen of the 
county for over twenty-one years, and for 
man\^ years in an official capacity, his ac- 
quaintance extends to nearly every resident 
of the county, while his genial ways have 
won him friends and su]i|)oi-ters wherever 
he is known. 

Joseph Peacock is a native of llui'on 
county, Canada, where he was born .lanuary 
19, 1840. His parents, John and Kcbecca 
Cunningham) Peacock, were natives of the 
North of Ireland, who had come to Canada 
befoi'e their marriage. The father was en- 
gaged in farming and coo])ering in his Can- 
ada liome until his death, which resulted 
from drowning, in lS-18. 

Our subject left Canada in 1865, and took 
a prospecting lour through the Western 
States, and while on this trip he prei'nii)ted 
the first quarter section of land so taken 
northwest of Glenwood, in Pope county. 
This was in Reno township, lie settled 
upon his place and began improvements, re- 
maining there until April 7. 1S74. when he 
removed to the village of tilenwood, pur- 
chasing a home on Green street, where he 
has since lived. He was elected to the office 
of sheriff in October, 1873, and has since 
been re-elected his own successor, so that he 
holds the office at the present writing 
(.\ugust. 1888). He has held various local 
])()sitions. taken an active interest in educa- 
tional and all other matters calculated to 



264 



rOPE COUNTY, MIWESOTA 



benefit either his town or county, and is 
ranked among the most energetic and enter- 
prising citizens of the county seat. 

Mr. Peacock was married to his present 
wife in 1882. She was formerly Miss Ella 
Cooler, and a daughter of John and Mar- 
garet (Taylor) Cooley, who are now residents 
of Reno township. A sketch of her father, 
who is a successful farmer andjiroininentold 
settler, apjiears in another department of 
this volume. Mrs. Peacock received an ex- 
cellent education in the schools of LeSeuer 
and Glenwood, and for a number of 3'ears 
followed the profession of a school teacher, 
having taught in all some fourteen terms of 
district school in Pope and Sibley counties, 
beginning when she was but fifteen years of 
age. Well educated and well informed, she 
is a lady whom it is a pleasure to meet. Va\ 
Peacock's family consists of four children — 
Charles W., Orrin J., Pansy M. and Archie. 
By a former marriage he had three chil- 
dren — John J.. Thomas PI. and Mary A. 

Oui' sul)ject is a mendjer of the Masonic 
fraternity. Tn political affairs he is a staunch 
repidjlican. anil has always taken an active 
interest in the campaigns of his paily. 



•-^f^^--*- 



^^EORGE H. LEWIS, one of the leading 
\s^5* Stock-raisers and diversilied farmers 
in the soutliwestern jKirt of the countv, re- 
sides on section 'i\. Langhei townshij). He 
was born at Cedar Falls, Iowa, on the 22d 
of April, 1858, and is a son of Benjamin 
antl Mercy (Reed) Lewis, natives of Maine. 
Ilis father in early life iuul learned theti'ade 
of wagon-making and followed that calling 
in his native State. He was married there, 
and at an early day came west to Illinois, 
settling about one liundred miles south of 
Chicago, where he engaged in farming. 
Three or four years later he removed, with 
teams, to Iowa, and settled near Cedar Falls, 



where George H. was born. Later the fam- 
ily removed to Bellevue, Ohio, where they 
were living during the war, and at the expi- 
ration of that time settled at Charlotte, 
Eaton county, Michigan. There they lived 
for about twelve vears, the father beinff en- 
gaged at his trade — wagon-making. In 1871 
they came to Minnesota and located at Os- 
seo, Hennepin county. This journey was 
made overland l)y team and theti-ip took six 
weeks. In 1880 the father came to Pope 
county, and after remaining for two years 
removed to Taylor's Falls. After this he 
made frequent moves, first back to Osseo, 
then to North Branch. Minnesota, where he 
lived for three years; then to Anoka, Minne- 
sota, and two years later settled at Osseo, 
Hennepin county, where the father still 
lives. The mother died at Osseo, on the 
20th of February. 1875. The parents had a 
family of the following children — Ella, 
now Mrs. F. Jackson, of Potterville, Eaton' 
county, Michigan; Anna E., who died at Os- 
seo, April 15, 1872; Charles A., who died in 
Pope county, September 19, 1882; George 
H.; Alphonso J., and Harry C. 

George II. Lewis spent his school days 
mostlv at Osseo. Minnesota, although durin<j 
his early life it will be seen from the above 

[ that he was in many different localities. He 
attended school until he was about seven- 

I teen, and from that time until he attained his 
majority' he had charge of a farm for E. A. 
Smith, at Osseo. He came to Pope county 
to locate in 1879, and has since resided here. 
He has a valuable farm, with comfortable 
building improvements, his buildings being 
locatetl near a beautiful grove. He devotes 
his time largely to stock-raising and dairy- 
ing, ami has been very successful in this line. 
He has a number of finely graded Durham 
and Holstein cattle, and is one of the best 
posted men in this line in this part of the 
county. 

Mr. Lewis was married February 23, 1879, 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



265 



to Miss Clara Smith, and they are the par- 
ents of one son, Herbert Clarence. Mrs. 
Lewis is a nativ^e of Osseo, Minnesota. 

Mr. Lewis is a republican in political mat- 
ters, and is one of the leading citizens of the 
townslii]) in wiiich he lives. He has always 
taken a prominent and active part in educa- 
tional matters, and for a niind)er of years 
has i)een clerk of the district in which he 
lives. 



l^ETER ENGEBRETSON, one of the 
most |)roiniiient and influential citizens 
of the noi'therii part of Po])e county, is a son 
of Engebretson and xVnna (Peterson) Olson. 
He is noAV a prosperous and highly es- 
teemed citizen of Ben Wade townshi]), resid- 
ing on section 33. He was born in Gud- 
bransdalen, Norway, December 19, IS-to. 
His father taught school for fifty-two years 
in the old country. Peter worked at the 
tailor's trade for three years, and in 1865 he 
came to the United States and settled in 
Fillmore county, ilinnesota. He remained 
there for a period of three years, working for 
farmers during the summers and in the win- 
ter i)ursued his trade, also owning and run- 
ning breaking teams. The year 18(')S saw him 
journeying to Pope county, and upon his 
arrival he took a homestead of lOo acres on 
section 33, Ben Wade township. The first 
year of his residence in Pope county lie was 
oidy on his claim occasionally, being em- 
ployed as a clerk in a store in Benson and 
Glenwood for I^athrop ifc Kinney. Mr. En- 
gei)retson has also been in partnership in gen- 
eral merchandising business with O. L Ron- 
ning in Starbuck. He now owns 2"2n acres 
of excellent fai-ming land besides some tim- 
bci- land in Douglas county and has his place 
well imi)i'oved and stocked. He takes a 
prominent part in public affairs, and is one of 



the representative men of his township, hav- 
ing held the following offices — assessor at 
present and townshij) clerk for fourteen 
years ; school treasurer and school clerk. 
He participated in the organization of his 
school district, also has been postmaster of 
the Fron postoffice. For three years he was 
a, member of the board of county commis- 
sii)ners and a portion of the time served as 
chairman of that body. 

Oui- subject was married to Miss Anna 
Eonning, daughter of Iver and liagnil Ron- 
ning, November 4, 1870, and thev have been 
blessed with the following childi'en — Anna 
Marie, Edwin August, Iver Martin, Rosa 
Olene, Hilma Amanda, Minnie Paulina, 
Emma Josephina and Rhode Susanne. 



^ETER E. BARSNESS, the subject of the 
W~ present sketch, is a highly esteemed 
citizen of Blue Mounds township, being- a 
resident of section 1. He is a native of Nor- 
way, born in Bergen Stiff February 5, 1846, 
and is a .son of Iver and Ingebar Barsness, 
who wei'c also natives of that kinmlom. His 
parents remained in that country until the 
year 1854; then they came to the United 
States and located in Dane county, Wiscon- 
sin, where they remained until 1870, coming 
then to Pope county. ^linnesota. The father 
was a farmer in the old country, and has al- 
ways been engaged in that occupation. Our 
sidjject has the following brothers and sis- 
ters — Ole, Iver, Andrew. Chistena, Andrena 
and Sophia. So]ihia and Ole are deceased. 
From the age of fourteen to twenty-one 
our subject, Peter E., went to school in the 
winters, and belpe<l his father on the farm 
during the summers. In October, 1S64, he 
enlisted in the Twelfth Wisconsin Volun- 
teer Infantry, and served until he was hon- 
orably discharged at Mailison, AVisconsin, in 



266 



POPE COUVrV. MINNESOTA. 



1865. 



lie participated in a great many en- 



gagements, and after his discharge he re- 
turned to AVisconsin, where he remained for 
a short time, and then came to Pope county, 
Minnesota. Our subject, with Mr. Thomp- 
son, drew up tlie petition to organize the 
townsliip. in 1868 or 1869. He is a man of 
theliighestlionorand integrity'. At different 
times has held the following oiEces — director 
of school district, supervisor, and at one 
time chairman of that body, assessor and 
county commissioner for four years, and has 
filled those offices with credit to himself and 
to his township. He is at present m excel- 
lent circumstances, financially, has an exten- 
sive farm of 300 acres, an extensive herd of 
cattle, besides a Clyde and Norman stallion, 
a half breed Ilolstein bull. His building 
imjirovenients are of an excellent character. 

Our subject was married Feln-uary 21, 
1869, to Miss Julia Steenson, a native of 
Norway. She came to this countrj', with her 
parents, in 1855, and settled in Dane county, 
AVisconsin, and in 1870 they came to this 
State, and settled in Barsness township, 
where they are still living. On the 5th of 
February, 1886, Mrs. Barsness died, leaving 
a liusband and four children — Inger, Edwin, 
Peter and Alma — to mourn her loss. 
Five children had died before their mother's 
death — Eda Christina, when twenty-one 
months old; Nels Alfred, when ten years; and 
the other three in extreme infancy. Mrs. Bars- 
ness was buried in Blue Alounds township. 
Rev. Score, of the Lutheran church at 
Gilchrist, preaching the funeral sermon. 

Mr. Barsness was again united in marriaye, 
his second wife being Miss Julia Overson, a 
native of Norway. This marriage took place 
on July 18, 1887. Mrs. Barsness' ])arents 
came to the United States in 1881, and are 
now living in Glenwood township. l!y this 
union they have been blessed with one child. 
Ole Albert Barsness. Mr. Barsness is a re- 
publican in his political affiliations. 



>ETER PENNIE, an ex-Union soldier, 
and one of the most prominent old 
settlers in the northern part of the county, 
resides on section 1, Leven township. He 
has one of the most valual)le farms in that 
part of the county, and his enterprise and 
energy are manifested by the excellent char- 
acter of his building and other improve- 
ments, which are a credit to the locality in 
which they are situated. 

Mr. Pennie is a native of Kinross-shire, 
Scotland, born on the 13tli of March, 1819, 
and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Drum- 
mond) Pennie. The parents came with their 
family to the United States, in 1853, and 
settled in AA'^hiteside county, Illinois. A few 
years later they removed to Richland county, 
AVisconsin. In 1865, after the close of the 
Indian AVar, they came to Pope county, Min- 
nesota, where the parents died. 

Peter Pennie spent his school days in 
Scothind, and came to the United States in 
1853. He has made his own way in the 
world ever since his boyhood, and has been, 
in every sense, the architect of his own for- 
tunes and a self-made man. He enlisted 
and served faithfully iluring the war, and 
after being honorabl3' discharged he came 
to Minnesota, arriving in Pope county in 
August, 1865, and took a soldier's claim on 
section 1, Leven township, where he lias 
since lived. He has about the finest build- 
ing improvements to be found in the town- 
ship, and in connection with general farming 
he carries on stock-raising extensively, devot- 
ing considerable attention to graded Ilolstein 
cattle and Norman horses. 

Mr. Pennie was married July 23, 1865, to 
Miss Eliza Bevier, a native of liinghamton. 
New York, and a daughterof Zenis Bevier. 
By their marriage they have become the 
parents of eightchildren, four lH)ys anil four 
girls — Thomas, Mary, Jenette, Duncan, Rob- 
ert R.. Eliza J., Daniel and Ilattie — all of 
whom are still single and at home. Jenette 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



267 



lias boon oducateil for a teacher and intends 
following that profession. Thomas has fol- 
lowed teaching to some extent in Douglas 
county. 

In August, lSfi'2, Mr. reiinie enlisted in 
the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and 
went into the service. lie saw very active 
service and remained in the arm\' until the 
close of the war. A few months of his time 
was spent in tlu; frontier service in Douglas 
county, ]\finnes()ta, and vicinity, but most of 
the time he was in the front, lie was in the 
Atlanta campaign, and was with Sherman in 
his fanunis "march to the sea." and, besides 
many slcirmishes, he j)articipated in a num- 
ber of the most famons battles of the wai', 
among the most important of which were 
the following named — Vicksburg, Meriden, 
Memphis. Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw ^Foun- 
tain, Atlanta, Savannah, Salkhatchie, Ben- 
tonville, etc. He finally participated m the 
grand review at Washington, in 1865, after 
the close of the war, and was honorably dis- 
charged. 

In ])olitics. ^fr. Pcnnie affiliates with the 
I'cpublifan party. 



DORR RATHBURN, deceased, was one 
of the oldest settlers, and one of the 
most prominent and highly respected citizens 
of White Bear Lake township. During his 
lifetime, he took an active ])art in all town- 
ship matters and educational atfairs, and was 
recognizird as one of the leading men in the 
noi'thern i)arl of Pope county. A man of 
the strictest integrity, nntiring energy, and 
enterprise, he stood high in the community 
in which he lived, and his death wassincerelv 
regretted by a wide circle of friends. 

Mr. Rathburn was a native of Onondaga 
county, iS'ew York, born June 2, 1S2(J, and 
grew to manhood in the county of his birth. 
On the I'Jth of October, 1853, he married 



l\Iiss Susan Pike, a native of Wvomino- 
county,New York, and shortly after their mar- 
riage they came west to Iowa. There they 
secured a small farm and remained until 1854, 
when they came to Fillmore county, Minne- 
sota, and were among the earliest settlers in 
the town of Forestville, in that county. 
There they engaged in farming and remained 
until 1867, when they sold out and started 
for Pope county, in covered wagons. They 
brought all their household goods, utensils, 
etc., together with four yoke of oxen, one 
horse and four cows. That was a very wet 
season anil the roads were torril)ly bad, 
scarcely any bridges having been built, and 
it was a common thing to have to swim the 
cattle across the streams. After a tedious 
and ditlicult joui'ney of some lour weeks, 
they finally arrivetl in White Bear Lake 
township, and ^Ir. Iwithluirii bought th(> 
farm on section KJ where his widow still 
lives, ])aying $600 for the claim and after- 
ward homesteading it. There .Mr. Rathburn 
lived until the time of his death, November 
25, 1886, and his widow still lives there. 

In September, 1888, Mrs. Rathburn sold 
115 acres of the land and twenty aci-es in 
five-acre lots, together with all of the stock, 
receiving tlierefor about 83,000. 

-• •■ > ' ■^^{^• <" ■ 

Ip) t£V. EDWARD C ELSEY, of the Re- 
Jic^ formed Presbyterian Church, and a 
resident of the village of Glenwood, is a man 
of high intellectual attainments and a high 
order of ability, both natural and acipiired ; 
a man of the strictest integrity, and one of 
the most highly respected citizens of the 
county. lie was born in Franklin county, 
Ohio, March 22, 1830, and is a son of John 
H. and Susan (French) Elsey, natives of Vir- 
oinia and New York. Tlie father came to 
Ohio when only twelve 3'ears of age, and in 
1867 removed to Michigan. The grand- 



268 



rorr. corxrr, Minnesota. 



father of oui' subject on his father's side 
was Edward Eisey. He was a native of 
Virginia, a bhit-ivsinith by trade, and followed 
that callinii- throuohout life. 

For several generations the ancestors were 
American, bnt back of that the foi-efathers 
WQVQ from England and Holland. John H. 
Elsey and wife were the parents of six chil- 
dren, live of whom are still living, as fol- 
lows — Margaret, now Sirs. Clark ; Rachel, 
now Mrs. Connell ; Edward G., David and 
Mary, now Mrs. Anderson. 

Our subject remained upon tlie home farm 
until he was twenty years of age, attending 
the common schools, and also attending Ge- 
neva College, in Logan county, Ohio. At the 
age of twenty he began teaching school, and 
four years later taught grammar school 
(Burns' system) for three j'ears. He then 
attended the Geneva College for some time, 
and in 1859 went to Illinois and taught 
school for a portion of two years. While 
there he was married to Miss Pheba Dobin, 
a daughter of John aiul Rachel (McClain) 
Dobin. 

In 1861 Mr. Elsey returned to Ohio and 
for one year was engaged in farming. He 
then spent some time in Geneva College, and 
(after coming home from the army) finished 
his course and was graduated. In 1S(>4 he 
enlisted in Company G, One-IIundred-and- 
Thirty-Second Ohio Infantr\% (100-day men) 
and served for four months in Virginia. 
After the clbfee of the war he was engaged 
in farming for three years, and then deter- 
mined to devote his life to the ministry. 
For four yeai-s he attended the Theological 
Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, spend- 
ing seven months of each year at that insti- 
tution, and at the ex])iration of that time 
was duly graduated. He then i-emoved to 
Louisa county, Iowa, to accept a settled 
pastorate, and for eight years faithfully 
served tliat charge. In 18S2 he came to 
Glenwood antl purchased forty acres of land 



within the village limits, where he has erected 
a tine residence and made substantial im- 
])rovements. At the present writinghe holds 
services at Lake Reno, five miles north of 
the county seat, where the society has ninety 
members, and he also preaches at Glenwood 
every two weeks. 

Ml', and Mrs. Elsey have a family of seven 
children living — John IL, James R., Ernest 
M., David B., Florence M., Etta L. and 
Pheba E. 

]\Ir. Elsey is a prohibitionist both in life 
and creed, and is a liberal minded, courteous 
Christian gentleman who is held in high 
esteem bv all who know him. 



.EORGE W. STEWART, a highlv re- 



spected farmer, living on section 9 
of "Westport township, came to Pope county 
in October, ISTI. He purchased 160 acres, 
paying $l,3(i0 for the same. He has greatly 
improved the farm, and is now setting out 
100 fruit trees, besides having made exten- 
sive and valuable improvements generally, 
and there carries on diversitied farming and 
stock-raising. Our subject was born in 
Canada, April 9, 1838, and is the son of 
AVilliam and Ann (Brown) Stewart, natives 
respectively of Scotland and Ireland. They 
w'ere married in Canada. In his younger 
days the father followed farming, but later 
on in his life was a merchant and distiller. 
He died in the spring of 1869. The family 
consisted of nine children, six sons and three 
daughters — AVilliam, George W., Richard, 
•lames, Albert, Edwin, Sarah, Mary, and 
Barbara. 

George "W. Stewart spent his school days 
in Canada, up to the time he was twenty 
years old. At the age of twenty-one he 
embarked in the lumbering business, con- 
tinuing until 1871, when he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota. He was married, at the 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



269 



l)er of years in Liverpool, lie came to the 
United States wlien about thirty-live yeai'S 
old and settled in Illinois with his wife. At 
an early day, in 18.57, tliey cain<; to Minnesota 
and setti('d in Hennepin county, where they 
were among the pioneer settlers. They 



age of twenty-nine, in ISflT, to Agnes 
Ritchie, of Canada. Siie was the daugiiter 
of William Uitcliie and wife, who had a 
large family of children. Mrs. Stewart is 
the seventh in order. Their names were as 
follows — Thomas, Mary, ^[atilda. David, 
John, Jenette, Agnes, William and .lames. 
]\[r. and Afi's. Stewart liave eiglit children — 
Martiia, Petrea, George W., Jane, Margi'et, 
Anna and licnry.all living at home. Martha 
has been a teaciier for fou)' veai'S. 

In politics ]\Ir. Stewart is a democrat. 
He is also a Free Thinker. He is full of 
good deeds and pnl)lic s])iiMt, and has often 
been in the various local otlices of his town- 
shi|) and county. He is one of the most 
inteliig(,'nt and best posted citizens in the 
nortiiei'ii part of the county, and stands high 
in the community in which he lives, both as 
a ni'ighi)or and an exemplary citizen. 



WILLIAM J. STINSON, one of the 
most successful and enterprising- 
citizens of Leven township, resides on section 
19, where he carries on general farming and 
stock-raising, lie is a native of Hennepin 
county, "Minnesota, born October 17, 1859, 
and is a son of Hugh and Letitia (Leslie) Stin- 
son. His parents were of Scotch descent, but 
were born in the North of Ireland. His 
grandfatlier on his fathei-'s side was Iluirh 
Stinson, Sr., a farmer in Ireland ; while his 
grandfather on his motiier's side was John 
Leslie, a faiiner, who died in Illinois. Iluoh 
Stinson, the father of William J., in his ! 
younger da^ys followed teaming for a num- | 



lived there for a great many years and 
finally, in 1S7S, removed to Morris, in 
Stevens county, wiiere the father died, 
December 23, 1884, and wheiH' the mother 
still lives. Hugh Stinson and wife had a 
family of twelve chikli-en, as follows — 
William ,1., Leslie, Boyd H., Charles IL, 
John, Adelaide \'., (ieorge, Fred, Jennie, 
iSornian, Alferctta and Letitia. Norman 
was burned to death, when their house 
bui-ned down. Letitia died when three 
years of age, and the rest are still living. 

William J. Stinson grew to manhood and 
received his education in Hennepin count}', 
Alinnesota, attending the district schools 
and also the graded educational institutions 
in Minneapolis. He left school when he was 
seventeen years old, and from that time un- 
til he was twenty-one he was engaged in 
traveling. He then went "on the road" 
for the St. Paul Ilai-vester Com|)any, but 
in 1882 resumed farming, and has since fol- 
lowed that line. In tiie fall of I SSI he 
came to Po[)e county, Minnesota, having, 
while traveling, purchased his present place, 
on section 19, Leven townshi]). He has a 
well-improved farm of eighty acres, and 
tlevotes his attention (piite extensively to 
stock and grain-raising. For the past four- 
teen years Mr. Stinson has had more or less 
to do with running a thresher, and for the 
past five seasons has operated one on his own 
account. 

Our sul)ject was married Decembei' 23, 
1881, to Miss Dora E. Moyer, and thej' are 
the parents of three children, as follows — 
Maud, Ernest and an infant. Mrs. Stin.son 
is a native of Scott county, Minnesota, and 
a daughter of William Moyer. Her people 
were pioneers in that i)art of the State, bav- 
in"- located there in 1858. Her father and 
mother were the parents of three children — 
Henry, Winona C. and Doi-a E. 

Mr. Stinson is a repul)lican in political 
matters, and has always taken a prominent 



270 



rOPE COUNTY, MIXXESOTA. 



and active part in all ])ublic and educational 
affairs. lie lias served as assessor of the 
township, school clerk of his district, and at 
present liolds the office of justice of the 
peace. 



I 



►^- 



#ARED EMMERSON, a highly respected 
farmer and old settler, living on section 
24 of Grove Lake township, is a native of 
the province of New Brunswick. He was 
born September 16, lS2Jr, in the county of 
Northumberland. His i)arents were John 
and Maria (Tozer) Emmerson. Our subject 
was reared to farm life and the lumber busi- 
ness. He remained in the home of his child- 
hood until he was twenty-four years of age. 
In IS-tS he left that county, going to Maine, 
where he engaged in lumber business until 
Octoljer, 18i9. He tiien came West, en- 
gaging in the same business on the Wiscon- 
sin River, in the State of Wisconsin. He re- 
mained in that section until 1855, then left 
for Iowa, stoj)ping in Black Hawk county, 
and helped lay ont the town of AVaterloo, 
driving the first stake ever driven in the 
platting of that place. He owned seventy 
lots there, which, a short time after, he sold, 
but little thinking of the flourishing city 
which was to be built up m a quarter of a 
century upon that site. After selling out in 
Iowa he came to Hice countj^, Minnesota, 
where he engaged in farm life again, re- 
maining for ten years, and then came to 
Pope county, settling whei-e he now lives. 
He first took up a homestead, as was the 
usual thing for the early settlei's in this 
section, and built a frame house 12x22 feet. 
He has since sold and purchased various 
tracts of land, but now owns 270 acres, all 
well im])roved. He has been extensively en- 
gaged in raising grain, cattle and horses. In 
1855 he married Miss Mary J. Plunger, of 
Canada, the daughter of Samuel and Mercy 



(Gibbs) Munger, natives of Xew York State 
and Canada. W^iY father wiis enoag-ed in 
farming, going to Canada when a boy only 
twelve years of age, and lived there until 
1858. He then went to Waterloo, Iowa, en- 
gaging in farming again. He remained at 
that point until his death, in 1856. The 
mother now lives at Faribault, Rice count}', 
Minnesota, aged seventy-eight j'ears. Mr. 
and Mrs. Munger had a familv of eight chil- 
dren, four of whom are still living — Mary J., 
now Mrs. Emmerson ; Deborah , now Mrs. 
Godfrey; Ruth A., now Mrs. Young ; Elisa, 
now Mrs. Mold. The parents were mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church, of which tlie 
father was a deacon. 

Our subj(K't has a family of six living chil- 
dren — Maria, now Mrs. J. E. Tobev, the 
mother of four children — Mary, Liiretta, 
Jared and an infant : Byron G., who mar- 
ried Sarah Tobey, who has one child, Harriet 
M.; Charles L., John S., Joseph F. and 
Robert E. are the names of the remainder of 
the children. Politically, Mi". Emmerson is 
an ai'dent re]nd)lican, and has been closelv 
identified with the public affairs of Pope 
county. He has been county commissioner, 
and has held various townshi|i offices ever 
since his residence in the county. He is a 
practical farmer and a prominent man. The 
family attend the Seventh-Day Adventist 
Church. 



-««: 



ERGER MIKKELSON is a successful 
and well-to-do farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 32, Glenwood township, on the shores 
of Lake Minnewaska. Born in Norwaj', at 
Kono'svimger, nine miles from Christiania, 
May 15, 1816, he comes of a natio'iality 
distinguished for their thrift, energj' and per- 
severance. He, with his parents, remained 
in the Old WorUl until he was fifteen years 
of age, when they came to tiiis country, set- 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



271 



tling in Cliicago, where lie and his father 
workei.l in a wareiiouse for two months. 
Tliey then went to Madison, Wisconsin, and 
engaged in tiie l)hicksniithing business, which 
they continued for tliree years — a year and 
a iinlf of which time Berger ran an engine 
ill ;i foundry. After the expiration of the 
llirce years tliey moved to Wiiineshoik 
county, Iowa, where they I'aii a iilacksmitli 
shop for two years. Leaving there they 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, setthng in 
Glenwood township, wii(>re tlicy took a sol- 
dier's claim, and it was "proved up" in 
Bergor's name, llis pari-nts, Mikkei and 
Joiianna (^OLson) Ijergerson, are still living 
witii iiiiii. 

( )ur subject was married to .]ose]>liine 
Jolinson, daughter of Joiiii and .\mia (Olson) 
Johnson, and the}' have si.x childi'en — Mar- 
tin Julius, John Alfred, Bernt Oliver, Ben 
Hart, Matikla and Ida. 



^^^ 



RANK M. EDDY, the present clerk of 
court of Pope county, is a native of 
^Minnesota, born in Olmsted county, April 1, 
1856, and is a son of Ilichiii'd and ^lary Iv 
(Sanborn) Eddy. His grandparents on his 
father's side were llichard and Drusilla 
(Shaw) Eddy, natives of Massachusetts. The 
grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812; 
a man of prominence and a county officer 
of the county in which he lived. Frank's 
grandparents on his mother's side were Gil- 
man J. and ^Fary E. (Ilewes) Sanborn, na- 
tives of New York and .Massachusetts, re- 
sjiectiveiy. (hIiiuiu .1. Saiilidru was ;i jus- 
tice of the peace for over lifty yeiirs, was 
a soldier in the Union ai'iiiy during the Civil 
AVar, enlisting when lifty seven years old. 
He was taken i>risoiier at the liattle of Afiir- 
fi-eesl)oro, and helil for some live months, 
contracting a disea.se there from which he 
never fully recovered. He died in 1887, in 



Lac(piipaile county, ilinnesota, where the 
widow still lives, being eighty-three years of 
age. 

Frank's father, Richard Eddy, was a col- 
lege graduate, a man of abilityand a teacher 
in New York State for many years. He 
came to Illinois in 1840, and settled in De- 
Kalb county, where he engaged in surveying, 
and later took up farming. About 1853 or 
1854, he removed to Minnesota and engaged 
in farming at Pleasant Grove, in Olmsted 
county. In 1802 he i-emoved to Clayton 
county, Iowa, where he resumed his chosen 
profession as a tciicher. In 1865 he returned 
to ^Minnesota, and engaged in agriculture in 
Dodge count}', remaining there until 1867, 
when he removed to Sauk Centre, Stearns 
county, where he lived for one year. At the 
expiration of that time he came to I'ojie 
countv, locating upon a farm on the iianks 
of Lake Amelia, in Leven township. Three 
years later he removed to White licar Lake 
township, and n iter two years spent tliei'c he 
settled in Stevens county, taking a home- 
stead, upon which he remained until the time 
of his death, in the winter of 1S84. The 
widow is still living in Stevens county, with 
her eldest son. Homer P. Seven sons born 
to them are still living — Homer P., Frank 
M., Volney II., Eugene, Abijah, George S. 
and Solon L. 

Frank M. Eddy, the subject oi our present 
sketch, spent his boyhood at home, being 
raised on a farm, and attending the ])ublic 
schools. He completed his education at the 
High School in Pleasant (irove, and then 
adopted the jirofession of a school teacher, 
which he followed in all about live yeans, 
teaching in Fillmore, Kandiyohi, Stearns 
and Pope counties. In the mean time, from 
July, 1884, until the sjiring of 1SS5, he was 
emjiloyed in the land department of the 
Northern Pacific Railway. lie had come to 
Pope county in 1868 with his parmts, and 
remained until 1874; and then again re- 



272 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



turned here in 1881. In tlie fall of ISSo lie 
was elected clerk of court for Po])e county, 
and is still the incumbent of that office. In 
political matters he is a republican. 

Oui- subject was married on the 28th of 
June, 1S8(). to Miss Fanny Fraser, of Wash- 
burn, Illinois, and a daughter of David and 
Almira Fi'aser. Their marriage has been 
blessed with one child — Ruth. JVfr. Eddy is 
a member of the Church of the Disciples, 
while his wife belongs to the Presbyterian 
denomination. 



-i^m--^^ 



i IMON SWENSON. The subject of this 
"^^^ biography is a pros])erous and well- 
to-do farmer, residing on section 2, Blue 
Mounds township. He is a native of Nor- 
way, born in the central part of that king- 
dom, November 19, 1804, and is a son of 
Swen and Beret Olson, who are also natives 
of that kingdom. "Wlien Simon was two 
years of age his parents came to America, 
and after a stormy journey of fourteen 
weeks they landed in Quebec, Canada. They 
came direct to Fillmore, county, Minnesota, 
wliere they remained three \'ears, and then 
came to Pope county, Minnesota. The father 
died at the advanced age of seventy -seven 
years, in 1>(S2, and the mother is still liv- 
ing with our subject, and is over seventy 
years of age. Tiie father always was a 
farmer, and was a member of the Lutheran 
Church, as is the mother. There were 
the following chikinMi in the family of tiie 
parents — Gilbert, Mary, Bertha, Ole, ()lina, 
Martha and Bertha S. and Simon, our jn-es- 
ent subject. 

Simon Swenson received a good education 
in tlie common schools of liis district, and after 
leaving school engaged in farming. He has 
an extensive farm of 200 acres, with good 
building improvements, and is engaged in 
general farming and stock-raising. 



j\Ir. Swenson has held, at different times, 
the following offices — school director of 
school district No. 42, Blue Mounds town- 
ship, constable, etc., and has always mani- 
fested an active interest in all matters of a 
public nature. Mr. Swenson is an exera])huy 
member of the Lutheran Church. He is a 
man of strict integi'ity and honoi", and is one 
of the leading men of his township. 



^NDREW B. WOLLAN. No class of 
t*"tlL men nor family have done more to- 
wards the settlement and development of 
Pope county, nor figured more prominently 
in the history of the progress of the county, 
than the Wollans, and a well-known and 
highly respected member of this family is 
Andrew B. Wollan, the subject of our pres- 
ent sketch, who resides on section 14, White 
Bear Lake township. He is a nativeof Nor- 
way, born February 11, 1833, and in early 
life learned and w(jrked at the carpenter's 
trade. In March, 1S60, lie was marrietl, to 
Petronelle Peterson, and the same spring- 
started for the United States. After three 
weeks spent in Northern Iowa, he came to 
Minnesota, and for three years was employed 
at various kinds of labor — whatever he 
could find to tlo. In 1863 he purchased a 
farm of eighty acres in Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, and eng-aofed in farmino-. There 
he remained until 1873, when he sold out and 
started with a team, overland, for Pope 
county. He also brought eleven horses, ten 
or twelve head of cattle, some sliee]), etc., 
and the trip consumed about one month. 
On the 1st of Jannary, 1874, Mr. Wollan 
purchased his father's original homestead, on 
section 14, White Bear Lake township, 
where he has since lived. He now owns 
some 32(1 acres of land, with 12ii acres under 
cultivation, and luis good buildings, located 
in a beautiful natural oak grove. He devotes 



POPE COUNTY. MINXESOTA. 



273 



his attention particnlai'ly to raising liorses, 
in which he has been very successful, and 
also carries on genei'al fanning and stocl<- 
raising. lie lias always taken an active and 
prominent ])ai't in all j)uhlic affairs and edu- 
cational niattei's, and has held various local 
oflRcesof this nature. 

Mr. Wollan's first wife died in Fillmore 
county in 18(>0, leaving two childivn to 
niourn her loss, only one of whom is now 
living — Caroline, now IVfrs. T. Husted, of 
Glenwood. In 1870, Mr. Wollan was mar- 
ried to Miss Christina Iverine Cln'istianson, 
and they have a family of ten living chil- 
dren — Bernt, Petei', Betsex-, Syvere, Matilda, 
Annie, Torkel, Nels, Adolpli and Hogl)art. 
The family are active members of the Luth- 
eran Chnrch. 

^^AMUEL BOOTH, an ex-union soldier 
'^^S' and a pi'ominent farmer and stock- 
I'aiser. residing on section -f, Ilolf township, 
was born in Goshen, LitcliMeld county, Con- 
necticut, and is a son of George and Martha 
(Xixson) Booth. His parents were both na- 
tives of Ireland, who luul come to the United 
States in 1815 and settled at Philadelphia. 
They soon moved to Webster, Massachusetts. 
After this the family moved about consider- 
ably, and we find them, in quick succession, 
located for a short time in the following- 
places: Tolland, Connecticut; Taritfville, 
Connecticut, then west to (lalena. Illinois; 
two years later to Grant county, AA'^isconsin; 
and then to Blue Earth county, Minnesota, 
and from there i)ack to Grant county. Wis- 
consin. The father died there in 1871, and 
the motiier died in Otter Tail county, ]Min- 
nesota, April -f, KSS8, tlie latter being over 
ninety years of age at tlie time of her death. 
They i-iised (piite a large family. When tlie 
war bi'oke out four of the brothers enlisted 
in the Union army — James, George, William 



and Samuel. James enlisted in 1863, in the 
Seventh Wisconsin Infanti-y, and seivcd un- 
til 18().5. George, AVilliam and Samuel en- 
listed in the Second Wisconsin Infanti-y — 
William and Samuel in 1801 and George in 
18<i2. William resigned in the fall of 1802 
on account of disease contracted in the ser- 
vice, but re-enlisted in 1863 as a ])rivate in the 
Seventh Wisconsin Infantry. He was taken 
prisoner, and spent six months in the famous 
Libby Prison. lie participated in thirty- 
seven hard fought battles, and part of the 
time held commissions as lieutenant and ad- 
jutant. George served all through the war, 
and was mustered out as a ])rivate. Samuel, 
our subject, enlisted as a ])rivate, but soon 
rose to the rank of second sergeant. He 
jiarticipated in both battles of Bull Run. He 
was wounded in both — once seriously — and 
lay upon the battle ground for seven days, 
lie was placed in the hospital at Xicetown, 
then near Philadcl})hia, now a ])art of the 
city. He was unfit for duty for about a year, 
and upon his recovery he again went to the 
front, serving until July, 1864, when he was 
mustered out at Madison, Wisconsin, and re- 
turned to Grant county, Wisconsin. After 
this he moved about considerably, and we find 
him shortly afterward in Pocahontas county, 
Iowa, then on the St. Croix River, then 
in ToUen county, Connecticut, and finally 
to Morris, in Stevens county, Minnesota, 
where he took charge of the "Morris farm." 
In 1876 he came to Pope county, and selected 
a preihiiption and tree claim — 320 aci'es in 
all — in Hoflf township. This has since been 
his home and he has brought the ])lace up to 
a high state of cultivation. 

Mr. Booth was nuirried, April 16. 1865, at 
Rolfe. Iowa, to iliss Angenette Keeney, a 
native of Connecticut, and a daughter of 
Anson and Marilla (Metcalfj Keeney, natives 
of the same State. The father was a ma- 
chinist, and is now deceased; while the 
mother is still living. They were the parents 



2 74 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



of three children — Angenette, Mary and 
Katie. Mi's. Booth, \vas educated in Iowa, 
attending the High School at Grinnell, for 
several yeai's. ilr. and Mrs. Bo(jth are the 
parents of seven children, as follows — Katie, 
Mary, Frank, Emma, Arthur, Maud and 
Minnie. All are single, and Mary is a school 
teacher. Mr. Booth is a prohibitionist in 
political matters, and he and his wife are 
members of tlie Congregational Church and 
exemplary citizens. He has always taken 
an active and ]irominent part in chni'ch and 
religious work, and while in Pocahontas 
county took a prominent part in all public 
matters. Pie is at present a deacon in the 
church to which he belongs. . 

Mr. Booth's earlv life was passed at Tariff- 
ville, Connecticut, and for many years he was 
employed in the mills of Connecticut and 
Massac! lusetts. When the family first came 
West, Chicago was a mere village, and theie 
were only twenty-eigiit miles of railway 
constructed west of th:it place. He lived at 
Galena, Illinois, and then in Grant county, 
AVisconsin, for a number of years, and then 
removed to Blue Earth count}', Minnesota, 
as has already been stated. They were liv- 
ing there at the time of the famous "Inkpa- 
duta Indian Outbreak," in 1857, and from 
there removed back to Grant count}', Wis- 
consin. 



/^APTAIN WILLIAM K. WHITTEMORE. 
vs)^ Tliere is ]n'obably n(j citizen in the 
Northwest who has traveled more exten- 
sively or viewed more portions of the Globe 
than the gentleman whose name heads this 
article. A man of wide travels, extensive 
general knowledge, a close observer, and a 
line conver-sationalist, he is, although not an 
old settler, one of the best known, and most 
highly respected citizens of Glen wood, where 
he lives. 



Captain Whittemore was born in Machias, 
Washington county, Maine, May 6, 1831, 
and is a son of James G. and Nancy M. 
(Crocker) Whittemore, who were also na- 
tives of the same place. The father was a 
sea ca])tain. and followed that calling through 
life, dying at New York in 185G. The 
mother died in her native town April 9, 1849. 
The parents were blessed with a family of 
eight children, only five of whom, however, 
are now li\ing — William K., AV alter D.; 
Augusta A., now Mrs. J. K. Foster ; Am- 
brose A. and Charles F. 

William K. Whittemore, tlie subject of 
our present sketch, spent the days of his boy- 
hood in school, and in attending AVashing- 
ton Academy, at his native place. AVhen he 
was seventeen years of age he began a sea- 
faring life, and first accompanied his father 
as cook. Then for one year served as sea- 
man, when he became first officer with his 
father. When he was twent3'-one years of 
age he was given command of a vessel, and 
became captain of the schooner •' Tabbot," 
of New York. Eight months later he took 
command of the brig •' T. M. Mayhne," of 
New York, ujion which he served as cap- 
tain for two years. He next commanded 
the bi'ig " African " for one year, when he 
became captain of the new brig " Udola," of 
which he retained command for eight years. 

In the mean time he had become part 
owner of the " Udola," and also of the " Mary 
Gibbs." During all these years he had, of 
necessity, experienced many hardships and 
])assed througli many narrow escapes. He 
had, at various times, visited every port 
on the Atlantic, and finally, after thirty-five 
years of active seafaring life, he decided to 
sell his shipping interests, retire from the 
sea, and spend the balance of his years upon 
te7'ra firma. He at once carried his resolu- 
tion into effect, and came West to Minnesota, 
and settled at Glenwood in 1882. He en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at that time, 



POPE COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



275 



and has continued it ever since, but at the 
present writing- lie is closing out his stock of 
goods, and intends to retire from the active 
cares of business, and enjoy the respite earned 
by a useful and active life. 

Captain Wiiitteniore was married January 
29, 1858, to Miss Abbie C. Marean, a native 
of Standisli, Maine, and a daughter of Aaron 
and Abigail (('lociver) Marean. Mr. and 
Mrs. WiiittiMiiore have one daughter living — 
Minnie M., now Mrs. M. II. Tracy, of Glen- 
wood. Jfrs. Whitleniore is also a veteran 
"sailor." She lias made eighteen voyages 
across the Atlantic Ocean, with her husband, 
visiting many portions of Eur()|)e ;uul iSoutli 
America. The same also applies to their 
daughter, wiio is an accomi)lislie(i "sea- 
woman," understands navigation, and has 
sufficient nerve and ability to sail a ve.ssel. 

Captain Whittemore is a democrat in his 
political views, but has never taken much 
interest in national politics, never luiving 
voted for President in his life. lie takes an 
active interest in all educational matters, and 
everything calculated to benelit iiis town or 
county, and has served, at different times, on 
both the school board and village council. 
He is a member of the ^Ias(jnic fraternity. 



i£;i)ATR!CK HOGAN, who is a well-to-do 
in*" fai-mer of section 30, Westport town- 
ship, is a native of Ireland, born May 2, 
1825, in County Tipperary. He is the son of 
Pierce and Mary (Manay) Ilogan, also na- 
tives of the Emerald Isle. The father was 
a farmer and died in his native country, at 
a place known as Parlankirry. Tiie mother 
came to the United States in 1855, with her 
son, settling at Porter Cit}', Wisconsin, and 
tiiere died in 1877. She was a devout mem- 
ber of the Roman Catholic Church, and died, 
as she had lived, in that faith. Their fam- 



ily consisted of nine children, four sons and 
five daughters— Mary, Katie, Ella, Maggie, 
Julia, Michael, John, James and Patrick. 
James died, a single man, in 1858, in Porter 
City, Wisconsin. lie Wiis a farmer. 

Our subject spent- his yeai*s at iiome, until 
he was twenty-one, and then worked out on 
a farm. He worked with his father until he 
was twenty-eight years of ag(>, and then 
rented his father's farm. He was mafricd. 
in 1847., to Miss Mary Putler, who was born 
in the same county in Ireland that he was. 
She was the oldest of five girls in her par- 
ents" family. Mr. and ]\rrs. Ilogan have had 
twelve children, ten of whom are now living. 
One child died while the father was in the 
army, and the other two years after they 
removed to Minnesota. The children were 
named in the following order — William (de- 
ceased). Pierce, Matt, John, Pui't. Andrew, 
Mary, Julia (deceased), Maggie, Ella, Carrie 
and Kate. The last mentioned mai'ried Pat- 
rick Jones, of Grove Lake township; Mag- 
gie nuxrried Frank Smith, of the same town- 
ship; Ella married Thomas Sutler, of West- 
port; Carrie married Michael Nugant, a 
machine agent in Starbuck; John and Pierce 
are both married. John is selling land in 
Kansas, and Pierce is a real estate man in 
Washington Territory. The remaindei' of 
the children are still single. 

Mr. Hogan came to Pope county in 1867, 
with George Thacker, the former locating on 
his present place, homesteading a quarter 
section of land, and is now one of the most 
successful farmers and stock-raisers in the 
county. His farm is among the richest and 
best improved in Pope county. He was 
among the earliest settlers, and has worked 
his way through the changing seasons, mak- 
ing the most of every event and hisindustry, 
integrity and tenacity in iiolding on through 
all the hard times of early days have been re- 
warded, and he is now well otF. In 18(?-1, 
Mr. Ilotfan enlisted in the Fortv-ninth Wis- 



276 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



consin Volunteer Infantry. Most of his ser- 
vice was spent in guartling prisoners. He 
received his discharge after Genei'al Lee sur- 
rendered to General Grant, March 18, 1865. 
He left the service at Madison. Wisconsin, 
and again put on the uniform of ])eace and 
exchanged his gun for a plow. 



• - ^ -S^t^-^- 



/>|^ARCELLUS W. HIGGINS, a repre- 
jTilra. sentative fanner, residing on sec- 
tion 21, Grove Lake township, is a native of 
Maine. He was born in Piscataquis county, 
of that State, January 1. 1849. His parents 
were Dyer and Catharine B. (Piper) Iliggins, 
whose native State was also Maine. When 
a young man the father was a mechanic, 
but later on in his life a farmer. He came 
West in 1864, settling in Dakota county, 
Minnesota, where he enoao-ed in farming- 
and blacksmithing. He remained there six 
years, then sold out and removed to Pope 
county, and located in Grove Lake township, 
where he purchased 200 acres of land on 
sections 23 and 24. He hved on the same 
for three years, after which he and his wife 
lived with their son until their deaths. The 
father died January 14, 1876, and the 
mother, October 22, 1878. He was a man 
who stood high in his community, and was 
favored by various local otfices, including — 
supervisor, postmaster, and justice of the 
peace. Both he and his wife were devoted 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
They had a family of twelve cliildren, only 
three of whom grew to man's and woman's 
estate — George D., Alljert II., and Marcellus. 
The father and mother, after having spent 
an eventful life, were finally laid away to 
rest in Grove Lake Cemetei'v. 

Our subject was brought ii}) at farm life 
in Maine until he was fifteen years of age, 
when lie came 10 Minnesota with his parents, 
remaining at home until twenty-four years 



old. In 1873 he was married to Miss Mary 
E. Harmon, a native of Indiana, she being 
the daughter of Jacob and Leah (Lindsey) 
Harmon. Soon after their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Iliggins moved to a homestead 
taken b}' the wife in 1868. They have since 
added forty acres to the original tract, mak- 
ing a farm af 200 acres in all. In 1873 Mr. 
Higgins built a frame house and all necessary 
out buildings, besides otherwise materially 
improving the place. 

Mr. Iliggins is a man of pubhc spirit, and 
has held several otfices of a local nature, 
including that of supervisor and roadmaster. 
x\s a member of tiie Methodist E])iscopal 
('hurch he never shirks a known duty, and 
is wide-awake to all educational interests. 

Mr. and Mrs. Iliggins have a family of 
two children — Leah B. and Chester P. Two 
other children (Jesse D. and an infant) were 
l)orn to them, but are now dead. 

AiLAVlES SIGNALNESS, one of the old- 
^ii^' est settlers and most widel}^ known 
citizens of Pope count}', is a resident of sec- 
tion 14, Blue Mounds township. He was 
born in Norway, November 12, 1851. He 
remained in his native land until he was 
twelve years old, when he came to the 
United States. After landing in Quebec, he, 
with his parents, went to Stoughton, Wis- 
consin, then to Madison, Wisconsin, where 
they remained two years. They then moved 
to La Crosse, W^isconsin, and after three 
years' residence there they came, with an 
ox-team and all possessions, to Pope county, 
Minnesota. They made the journey over- 
land, and were ten weeks in making the 
trip. Mr. Signalness is highly esteemed in 
his locality, and has held the following 
offices — constable for six or eight years, and 
road overseer. Our subject and his father 
were the first settlers in their region of the 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



211 



country, :uul tliev built the first "'log- cabin "' 
in the townsliip, in which tiiey live. At the 
time tiiey came here the nearest neighbors 
to the west of them wei-e at a distance of 
fifteen miles. Soon after locating here our 
sul)joct anil liis fatiicr built a dam, cutting 
tiie logs out of the surrounding woods. 

Mr. Signalness was married, August 12, 
1870, to I\fiss Anna Klaven, a native of Nor- 
way. She came to this country when a 
sum 11 child, and her |i!ir(Mits, Oh; Klaven and 
^fary Olson, settled in Vo\w county, llor 
father is dead, and iicr mother is still living. 
She has tlic following brothers and sisters — 
liunartl, John, Mary and Olena. Her par- 
ents are members of the Lutheran Church. 

I'y tlieii- niai'riage our siii)ject and wife 
have been blessed with the following chil- 
dren — Thobia, Richard, Alfred, Oscar, Ben- 
nie and Lewis. The family are exemplary 
members of the Liitlieran Church. Qui- 
subj(H't has a farm of lii(t acres, with good 
ini|ii-()Vi>inents. 



Christopher mortenson, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, is a jirosperous 
and highly esteemed citizen of Pope county, 
residing on section 1. Ben Wade township. 
lie was born in Ilamar Stift, Norway, May 
25, 1S32, and is a son of Morton aii'l Carrie 
(^fatson'i Ei'ickson, who are also natives of 
that kingdom. At the cai'ly age of ten years 
he commenced life Cor himself by herding 
cattle foi- farmers, and when about tifteenhe 
learned the tailor's trade, and worked at that 
until he was niiu'teen years old. He then 
served in the army for five years, and when 
not on ilutv he followed the occupation of 
farnung. After his military service he was 
enfjajjed as foreman for a widow who owned 
a store anil a farm. He took charge of her 
farm and l)ougiit the goods for the stoi'e for 
a period of live years. He tlien went into 



the employ of another party in tiie same 
business, at which he was employed for one 
year. The lumber business then took his 
attention, and he workcMl in tlie woods, cut- 
ting logs for one year. Our suljject then 
went back to his old occupation, farming, 
which he followed for another j'^ear, and 
durini;: this time he learned to read English. 
The spring of 1860 saw him starting foi- 
America, and on reaching this country he set- 
tled in Racine, Wisconsin. There he staid two 
months, working on a farm one month, the 
other in the woolen mills at Racine. Mr. Mor- 
tenson went to]\rinneapolis, ^[innesota, and 
i-emained there during the summer, working 
on the dam and in a hiinher yard. In the 
fall he went into the ])ineries and worked 
until spring, (ioiiig to St. Paul, ^[iiinesota, 
he worked in a saw mill, and in a couple 
of months returned to Minneapolis. There 
he staid, hauling wood for the railroad com- 
pany until spring, and then, after working in 
a siwmill for one month, came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead in 
Ben Wade township. After filing on his 
claim he went to St. Paul, and was engaged in 
a sawmill, about two miles from that jilace. 
He was engaged in that occupation until 
fall, when he went with a raft to Dubuque, 
Iowa, where he staid fourteen days. (Jn 
November 1, 1809, he came to his claim, and 
has since made that his home. 

The subject of this biograjihy was mar- 
ried, in Se[)teinber, 1874-, to ^liss Mary Jacob- 
son,a daughter of Jacob and Martha Meetmer, 
and thev have been blessed with the folio w- 
ino' children — Charles Jolian and ]\Iartin. 
Mrs. Mary Mortenson died in the spring of 
1ST1-, and four montiis later our subject was 
united in marriage to Miss Dortha Larson, 
and they have two children — David and 
Kliv. 

The subject of this memoir is a represent- 
ative man of his township, and has been 
chairman of supei'visors three yeai"s, assessor 



278 



POrF. COUNTY. Ml.y.XESOTA. 



four years, and school director. Mr. Mor- 
teiison and his family are exeiiiplar_v mem- 
bers of the X(jr\vegian Lutheran Church, and 
in political matters, oui' subject affiliates 
with the repuijlican ]iai'ty. 

FV RTHUR Ml CANN, a respected farm- 
^^^er and stock-raiser of the northern 
pait of the county, resides on section 27, 
Keno townshi]). He is a native of Canada 
West, l)orn on the 29th of April, 1858, and 
is a son of George and Elizabeth (Castles) 
McCann. The parents were natives of Ire- 
land, where they were married, and at an 
earlv day came to Canada. There the 
father died in 1872, and there the mother 
still lives. The parents had a family of 
twelve children, nine of whom are living — 
Jane, Lucinda, ilargaret A., Leticia, Arthur, 
Mary E., Jessie, William and Joseph, Four 
of the family are living in the United 
States, wliile the rest are still in Canada. 

Arthur i\[cCann, our present subject, grew 
to manhood in his native j)rovince. He re- 
ceived a fair practical education, attending 
school until he was twelve years of age, and 
then aiding in the labor of cai-rying on the 
home farm. He remained at home until he 
was twenty -six years of age, when he was 
married. In 1880 he came with his family 
to Pope couut\', Minnesota, and lias since 
resided here, 

Mr, McCJann was married on the 16th of 
July, 1879, to Miss Mary Baldrow, and their 
nnion has l)een blessed by the bii'th of four 
children — Lillie, George, Sarah J., and Arthur 
W. Mrs, McCann was born in Canada in 
1857, and is a daughter of Joim and Sarah 
(Winter) Baldrow, her father being a native of 
England, and the mother of Canatla. In Mr. 
Baldrow's family there were twelve children 
born, three of whom died and nine grew up, 
as follows — James D., Susan, Mary M., John, 



Anna, William, Sarah, Abram and Ida. Mrs. 
McCann gi-ew to womanhood and was edu- 
cateil in Canada. She is the only member 
of her father's family who lives in the United 
Stiites, 

Mr, and Mrs, McCann are exem])]ary 
members of the Episcopal Church, In polit- 
ical matters he affiliates with the democratic 
party. While living in Canada, Mr. JVIc- 
Cann was an active member of the Eritton 
Society, while his father, for years, was a 
member of the Masonic fraternitv. 



^ RICK LINQUIST, a thrifty and well-to- 
do farmer, living on section 7, Bai-s- 
ness township, was born in the central part 
of Sweden, October 11, 1844. His father 
and mother, Ole Andersoii and Mary (Ander- 
son) Linciuist, both natives of Sweden, are 
deaii. His brother and sister, Andrew and 
Mary Linquist, are living in Sweden, All 
are in ])rosi)erous circumstances, and are 
excellent representatives of the energetic 
nation to which they belong. 

The subject of our sketch, lived on the 
farm with his father until 1868, when he 
came to this country, locating in Oconto 
county, Wisconsin, where he worked in a 
saw mill for two 3'ears, then went to Mar- 
quette county, Michigan, There he worked in 
the iron mines for nine years, when he moved 
to ]*ope county, Minnesota, and bought 200 
acres of land on section 7, Barsness town- 
ship. He owns one of the best farms in the 
county, has made many improvements, and 
has the greater part (jf it uniler cultivation, 
and owns quite a numl)er of cattle, 

Mr, Linquist was married on September 
20, 1868, to Charlotte Fredrickson, and their 
union has been blessed with the following 
children — Ida, Emil, Ernest, Albert, Anna, 
Oscar and Amanda. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



279 



i^ASPER T. WOLLAN, iiicicIkiiU. is one 
V^y of tlic frPiitlemen that constitute the 
Frciiiiid Association, of (TJoinvood, and one 
of the most prominent business men of Pope 
county. He is a native of Norway, boi'u 
Afarcli 5, 1S48, and is a son of ISenjauiin O. 
and TJereth A. (Stiien) Wollan. His par- 
ents were also natives of Norway, the father 
born December 6, 1795, and the mother 
March 15, 1800, and tliey were joined in 
marriage in 1820. Tlie ])arents remained in 
their native land, engaged at farming until 
18fiO, but in the mean time four of the chil- 
dren had come to America, two in 1857 and 
two in 1859. In 1860 the parents came to 
the United States and located in Allamakee 
county, Iowa, where they engaged in farm- 
ing, and remained until Isr.S, when they re 
nu)ved to Pope county, J[inncsota, having 
been preceded by two sons and one daugh- 
ter. The father took a homestead in 
White Pear Lake townsliip, where he thus 
became one of the pioneers. lie remained 
there, engaged in farming until tlie time of 
liis death, which occuri'cd October 14, 1879. 
The mother died December 15, 1881. 
They had been members of the T,uthei-an 
Church since childhood, and were |)e(jple of 
the highest inteffritv and Christian character. 
They were the parents of eleven children, as 
follows— Ole B., Martha, Peter P., Elsebe 
(deceased), Ernst O., Andreas P., Nels P., 
Ellen M., Pernt C, Michael A. and CasperT. 
Casper "Wollan, whose name heads this 
sketch, attended school in his native land 
before coming to America. Later he pur- 
sued his studies in Winneshiek county, Iowa, 
and when si.xteen years of age began 
working out on farms, during the summer 
months and attending school in the winter. 
When twentv vears of a<i-e he bei^an clerk- 
ing in Houston county, Minnesota, and also 
followed that business in Winona City 
for a short time. He then returned to 
farming in Lillmore county, where he re- 



mained until coming to Pope county, in 
18(>S. After his arrival, for some time he 
worked out and also assisted his father in car- 
rying on the homestead. His next move; was 
to come to Glenwood, wiiere he commenced 
clerking in the general merchandise store of 
x\. F. Englund. A year later, he, with two 
of his brothers, foi'med a ]iartuership and 
opened a hardware store and tin-shop. They 
next bought out a stock of general merchan- 
dise belonging to Mr. Englund, and ran this 
line in connection with their former busi- 
ness. This state of affairs continued until 
1874, when the Fremiid Association was or- 
ganized and incorporated under the laws of 
the State. Pesides a few outside parties the 
association consisted mainly of the eight 
Wollan brothers, and two of their sisters. 
The shares weie placed at ^25 each, and 
the capital was $4,600. In 1884 the associa- 
tion was re-incorporated, and re-oiganizcd 
with a capital stock of sir).7(M», and shai'es 
raised to $50. The Association has from its 
inception been the reci])ient of a very large 
tratie, and to-day they carry, by large odds, 
the heaviest stock of goods in Pope county. 
It is one of the most im])ortant institutions 
of Glenwood. Cas])er Wollan has been busi- 
ness manager and treasurer of the associa- 
tion ever since its incorpoiation, until Feb- 
, ruary, 1888, with the exception of one year, 
j when another party held the position of 
I treasurer. At the date last mentioned he 
was chosen president, but still continues as 
business manager. 

Our subject is a republican in his political 
views, and has taken a ])rominent and active 
part in all jniblic nuitters aflecting the local- 
ities in which he has lived. He served as 
town clerk of White Pear Lake township, in 
pioneer days before coming to Glenwood, 
and since settling at Glenwood he has at var- 
ious times been a member of tlie village 
council, was one of the incor|)orators of the 
village, and at this writing is the president 



28o 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



of the council. Every enterprise calculated 
to benefit his town or county has received 
his hearty support, and lie justly ranks among 
the leading and most influential citizens of 
Pope county. 

Mr. Wollan was married January 10, 1875, 
to Miss Ingel)or A. Aal, a native of Norway, 
and a. daughter of Gunerius and Olia Aal, 
who came to America in IStiti, and settled in 
Winneshiek county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wollan are the parents of five children, as 
follows — Gustav B., Oscar C, xVrnold O., 
Blanch I. and PernelU; T. The family are 
membei's of the Lutheran Church. 



^M^NTON HOGENSON, one of the most 
-Zr^'ilL. highly I'espected old .settlei's of Pope 
county, is a resident of section 1-4, White 
Bear Lake township. Like so many of the 
most prominent pioneers of this section, Mr. 
Hogenson is a native of Norway, where he 
was born, on the 16tii of Fel)ruarv, 1836. 
He remained in his native land until he was 
twenty one years of age, when he started 
alone f(jr the United Slates, and made his 
way directly to Winneshiek county, Iowa. 
Two years later he removed to Houston 
county, Minnesota, where he purchased 
eighty aci'es of I'ailroad land and engaged in 
farming on his own account. In the spring 
of 1867, hesold out. and, with sixteen others, 
started for Northern Minnesota. Our sub- 
iect had two covered wagons, a,nd iji-ought 
with him his family, together with house- 
hold goods, furniture, etc. The party came 
(Hrect to Pope county, and made Glenwood 
their headquarters, while they spent a few 
days in looking over the country. A ma- 
jority of tiie party, not being able to find 
suitable locations, the party proceeded on 
northwest to Douglas and Otter Tail coun- 
ties, wiiere twelve of them found claims and 
settled. The other four — namely, Anton Ho- 



genson, Nels Wollan, Bernt Wollan and 
Andrew Schey — all returned to Pope county. 

Our subject selected his present farm as 
homestead, and at once began his work, 
})utting up hay for the stock, and breaking 
between four and five acres of land. For 
three weeks the family lived in the covered 
wagon, and then moved into the log cabin, 
wdiich had l)een erected in tiie mean time. 
At that time this country was very sparsely 
settled. Some eight or ten families were all 
the settlement north of White Bear Lake, 
and there were but few between this place 
and Sauk Center. The nearest raili'oad sta- 
tion, at that time, was at St. Cloud, where 
the settlers were obliged to go for all 
provisions such as flour, etc. It is true that 
there was then a little store at Glenwood, 
but the stock of goods was very small — as 
one old settler puts it, -'the entire general 
merchandise stock would pretty nearly till a 
wheelbarrow."' The trip to St. Cloud for 
provisions usually consumed about a week 
and a half. Dui'lng 1868 Mr, Hogenson 
seeded to wheat the four and a half acres 
which he had broken during the pre- 
vious year, and from it raised sixty-five 
bushels. This supplied the family with 
flour, as he had it ground at Sauk Center, 
The lirst flour bought by the settlei's after 
they arrived, was purchased at St. Cloud, 
and cost s9.f)0 per sack, or at the rate of 
$17.00 or S18.00 per barrel. The first 
wheat marketeil was hauled to Benson, a dis- 
tance of thirty miles. These were some of 
the disadvantages with which the jiioneers 
had to contend, but our subject has stuck to 
the farm through all these years, and his 
perseverance, econom\' and industry have 
been rewarded, as he now has a valuable 
farm of 86u acres, and is in excellent circum- 
stances. 

Mr. Hogenson was mai'ried in 1S.j9 to 
Miss Ellen Wollan, and thej' are the parents 
of the following children, namely — Ole 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



281 



Ilendrik Iloltan, born August 16, 1861; 
Herntiiu' Miiriiiiuu^ IIoltan,Fol)i-uaiT 16,1864; 
Eine Albertine Iloltau, born Marcli 5, 1866 ; 
Jolianne Iloltan, born September 19, 1867; 
Bernliard Iloltan, boi'n March 2(», 1870; 
Emma Jensine Iloltan, born July 10, 1872 ; 
Odin Joacliim Holtan, born October 29, 
187-4; Adol])h Svcre Iloltan, boi'n Decem- 
ber, 23, 1876 : William Iloltan. born April 25, 
1880 ;and Gustav IJendix Iloltan, born June 
22, 1882. 



^^RICK E. THOMPSON, the subject of 
\^^ this sketch is a prominent and highly 
esteemed farmer residing on section 13, Blue 
Mounds township. lie is a native of Nor- 
way', born in Bergen Stift, January 9, 1855, 
and is a son of Ingebret and Olena O. Olson, 
wiio are also natives of that kingdom. Thev 
came to this country in 1861, and located in 
Dane county, Wisconsin. In 1868 they 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and settled 
in Blue ]\[ounds township], on the farm where 
our subject now lives. 

Erick E. Thom]ison, whose name heads this 
article, grew to manhood beneath the roof 
of the home of his parents. He was brought 
up to hard work, and received no schooling 
after he was thirteen years of age. He is, 
however, a good business man and a man of 
lonor and integrity. He has 
treasurer of his 
township, treasurer of school district, and has 
filled those offices with credit to himself and 
to his t(jwMsliip. 

Our subject was married July 2, 1879, to 
^liss Mary Olson, a native of Norway. She 
came to this country with her jjarents when 
she was seven years of age, and they settled 
in Dane county, Wisconsin. She was edu- 
cated in Wisconsin and is one of live? chil- 
dren. 



the greatest 

heltl the followin<r offices- 



Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been blessed 



with the following children — Emil, Anna, 
Olena, Amma and Mabel, two of whom arc 
dead. Our subject has a line farm of 440 
acres, with good impi'ovements. In political 
matters he is a staunch republican. 



-«-: 



PETER O. ROE, is a well known and 
successful l)usiness man of Brooten, 
Stearns county, where lie has lived since 
February, 1887, engaged in farming and buy- 
ing wheat for Osborn d- McMillan, of Minne- 
apolis. He was born in Columbia county, 
Wisconsin, March 16, 1855, and was raised 
and educated in Wisconsin and Minnesota. 
He received an excellent and practical edu- 
cation, taking a ccmrse at the Lutheran Col- 
lege at Decorah, Iowa. Up to tiie time he 
was twenty-four years of age, however, lie 
remained at home most of the time. Upon 
arriving at that age he began life for him- 
self, and has since been very successful. He 
has the finest Iniildings in Brooten village, 
and is recognized as one of the most c;ipable 
businessmen in Stearns county. 

\w political matters Mr. Hoc is a repub- 
lican, and takes an active interest in all pub- 
lic affairs and every enterprise calculated to 
benefit the localitj' in which he lives. 

On the 22d of May, 1884, Mr. Roe was 
married to iliss Helen P. Enerson, a native 
of Goodhue county, Minnesota, and a daugh- 
ter of Peter Enerson. She was raised in 
McLeod county, Minnesota, where her father 
is still living. In the family of her parents 
there were tiie following children — Joim, 
Henry, Enert, Ole, Carrie, Helen, Anna, 
Mary and Tilda. By their marriage Jlr. and 
Mrs. Roe have become the jiarents of one 
boy, named Otto Peter, born February 17, 

1885. 
The family are exemplary menibei-s of the 

Lutheran Church. 



282 



POPE COUXTY, MIKXESOTA. 



NDREW ANDERSON, who is now a 
^^ well to-do farmer living on section 15, 
Chippewa Falls township, is a native of 
Sweden, born December 13, 1827. His 
parents were also natives of Sweden, and 
were named Andrew and Mary (Peterson) 
Andei'son. The famil}' were stunh', indus- 
trious farmers, possessing robust health, as 
do most of the sons and daughters of that far 
northern country. The father died in 1S42, 
and the mother in 18^7. The father served 
as roadmaster in his native land for thirty- 
eight years and was a good and generous- 
hearted man, rearing his family in a pi'oper 
manner. The family wei-e members of the 
Lutheran Church, of which he was for many 
years an officer. They had ten children, 
four of whom are now living — Peter; Mary, 
now Mrs. Frember; Andrew and Tona. 

The subject of our sketch spent his boy- 
hood days upon his father's farm in Sweden, 
until fifteen years of age, when his father 
died. He tiien worked at farm labor for 
three yeai's; tlien spent two years at learning 
the carpenter's trade, and followed that for 
fifteen ^"ears, contracting and building, hav- 
ing many men under his control. He was 
married to Miss Cliristena Larson, daughter 
of Lars and Annie L. (Johnson) Johnson, 
also natives of Sweden. They were farmers 
of the better class, and had six children, four 
of whom are now living — John, Lars, Annie, 
now Mrs. Oleson, and Mrs. C. Anderson. 
Tlie parents wei-e acceptable members of the 
Lutheran Chui'ch. 

After his marriage, our subject rented 
farm lands for six years in Sweden, then, 
with his wife and four children came to 
America, settling in Scott county, Minnesota, 
where he worked at mason work in the sum- 
mer time and carpenter work in the winter 
for three years. He then came to Pope 
county and in September, 1867, took a home- 
stead wiiore he now lives. At the same 
date he bought twentv-three ao'es of a frac- 



tional piece of timber in section 15, of Chip- 
pewa Falls township. At first he built him 
a log house, 14x16 feet in size, in which he 
remained for seven years, then built his pres- 
ent commodious residence. In 1887 he also 
built a granary and barn with underground 
stabling; the barn is -ISxGl- feet in size. As 
a windbreak, he planted a fine grove around 
his house and buiklings, and now has one of 
the best improved places in the county. Their 
family comprises eleven children — boys and 
girls- — Annie, now Mrs. Butterfield (who 
has four children — John E., Effie E., Charles 
A. and LeRoy) ; Mary; Augusta, now Mrs. 
August Frendberg (the mother of one child — 
Ira C); Lewis ; Matilda, now Mrs. John- 
son (who has one child — Clara T.) ; Alphe, 
Ida S., Gustavus, Emma L,, Christena A., 
Mabel J. 

In politics Mr. Anderson is a republican, 
and has held the offices of school director, 
township clerk and trustee; has also been 
chairman of the board of supervisoi-s. He is 
one of the substantial men of his county. 
He and his family are faithful members of 
the Lutheran Church. 



-S€^- 



ILLIAM C. EMMERSON. an enter- 
prising merchant at Grove Lake, is 
a native of the Province of New Brunswick, 
born October 29, 1818. He is the son of 
John and Mariah (Tozer) Emnierson, who 
were natives of Prince Edward's Island and 
St. John's, New Brunswick. They were 
unitetl in marriage at a point on the Mari- 
michi River, where the\' farmed, t])e father 
also engaging in the lumbering trade. They 
came to Minnesota in 1855, settling in 
Rice county, near Cannon City, where the 
father died. Tlie family remained until 
1865, and preempted a piece of hind, wiiich 
thev improved, and finally sold out, and came 
to Pope county, in 1865, settling on section 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



233 



13, Grove Lake townsliip. Tlio mother 
availed he"self of the jirivileges of tlie liome- 
steail act, ami took up 120 acres in that 
township ami forty acres in Stearns county. 
Tiiis i)laco they improved. Tiicv were the 
first settlers in the towiisiiip, and also in the 
county, so far as known. aft(>r the Indian 
outlircak. Mrs. Emmerson was the first 
woman here after that evenlfid massacre. 

Wlien our sul)ject became of age the farm 
was deeded to him, as he iiad improved the 
same, lie livetl upon it until 1883. The 
family consisted of eight sons and four 
daughters. There are now living five sons 
and two daughters — Jai-ed, John, James, 
David W., William ('. : Eunice, now Mrs. 
^futch; and Charlotta, now Mrs. Decker. 
Tiie mother is still living, at the advanced 
age of eighty years, in tlie full possession of 
all her faculties. She makes her home with 
her son, William C. who is the subject of 
this sketch. Mrs. Emmerson was a member 
of the Haptisl Church from tlie time she was 
tifteen years okl until 18T-1, from which time 
she lias belonged to the Seventh Day Ad- 
ventists. Iler husband, John Emmerson, 
was a mendjer of the Baptist Churcii from 
the age of twent\'-oue years until his death, 
in 1855, and was a deacon in the Church for 
eight years. Mrs. Emmei'son's father was 
a native of Connecticut, and was a soldier in 
the Revolutionary War, serving nearly three 
years, going in when only fifteen years of 
age. He received some slight wounds. He 
died in 1850, in New Brunswick, receiving, 
for several years ])rior ro his death, $100 per 
year as pension for war services. He had a 
family of eleven children, of whom two are 
now alive — Mrs. Emmerson and Eunice, now 
Mrs. Strickland. Tlie mother was Eunice 
Ives, born in New England. Her pai'ents 
were David and Eunice (Gdlet) Ives. 

Our subject commenced his mercimtile 
career in 1883, in Grove Lake, oj)erating the 
same foi- three years, when he took as a 



partner. A. 11. Pettit, of Sauk Center. They 
carried a very large stock of goods, in tlie 
general merchandise line. Mr. Emmerson 
was appointed postmaster at Grove Lake, 
and in 1S85 he purchased tiie entire store 
and other property in the township, includ- 
ing tlie Decker property, adjoining the store; 
he also runs the hotel. All in all, he is a 
man full of business, yet finds time, by his 
good management to serve his fellow citizens 
in the canacitv of local offices, he having 
been chairman of the board of supervisors for 
five years; township clerk and assessor, 
each one term, and, in fact, has always taken 
an active and prominent part in all pub- 
lic mattei-s. In politics he is a republi- 
can. 

In 1874 Mr. Emmerson married Miss Jane 
Richardson, the daughter of Richai'd and 
Eliza (Cairns) Richardson, and a native of 
Steel county, Minnesota. Tiiey have a 
family of five children — Olive A., James 
E., Richard F.. Irvin C. and Elson 11. 

To give the reader of this sketch anvthins' 
like a correct understanding of the privations 
and disadvantages endured by the pioneers 
of the section of Minnesota u})f)n which this 
Ai.m:M treats, and especially of what the 
subject of this particular sketch, together 
with his family, endured, it will be necessai-y 
for the author to go somewhat into detail, 
regarding the experience of this family. 
To begin with, their nearest market place, 
ui)on coming to the county, was St. Cloud, 
a distance of sixt3'-five miles, and at first 
their nearest neighbor lived seven miles 
away. Flour was then worth, at this point, 
eighteen dollai's per barrel. Mr. Emmerson 
tells of going out one day with sixteen rifie- 
biills and coming home with fifteen rabbits, 
having lost one ball in the snow. He added 
that the family had plenty of meat from the 
wild game they killed tliat winter. 

The first sciiool house in district No. 1, 
was built by jiubhc enterprise and is a log 



284 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



structure standing a short distance from Mr. 
Emmerson's store. 

Mrs. Eminerson claims, and justly too, 
the honor of having been the first woman to 
set foot on Pope county soil after the Indian 
outbreak. She came from Rice county, in 
company with some of her children, in a 
covered wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen, 
havino- two eood co'.vs and a faithful watch- 
(loo- along-. She savs their house was built in 
the edge of the timber, and, upon lighting a 
candle, the mos(juiloes would c<_>me in such 
multiplied swarms that they would put out 
the light as fast as she could re-light it. 
Tliey had religious service there, and the 
neighbors would come in for a good ilistance 
around. The first sei'UKjn was preached in 
the Decker House, where Mr. Emmerson 
now lives, a Methodist Episcopal clergy- 
man. 

The following account of a fearful cyclone 
is eiven bv Mrs. Jane Emmerson, who at 
the time was a girl of but ten summers, 
living at home. It was in 1868, and the 
storm is described as seen by her in Ray- 
mond townsiiip, Stearns county, Minnesota, 
just on the edge of Pope county, where she 
then lived. It was about one o'clock in the 
morning when the storm struck the house in 
which they lived. It took all the structure 
away clear, except one corner, where her 
parents were sleeping. There were ten per- 
sons in the house at the time, one being a 
neighbor's son, aged eighteen years, and he 
was killed. A lad\' teacher stop])ing there 
was blown twenty-five rods, injured in- 
ternally, and had three ribs broken. Of 
the family only two were injured — a boy, 
aged three yeai-s, was killed, and another 
boy had his legs broken, and died four years 
afterward as the result of the injury. 
Another boy, twenty years old, was injured 
internally, but finally fully recovered. Mrs. 
Emmei'son, who describes the storm and its 
awful fury, was carried, as was her sister 



also, about three rods, both escaping ^vith 
slight scratches. 

The father of Mrs. William C. Emmerson, 
Richard Richardson, after the cyclone de- 
stroyed his place again, began his buiUling 
improvements anew, and built a comfortable 
dwelling. He continued to live there until 
the time of his death, December 5, 1881, 
which resulted from a runaway. The cir- 
cumstances were about as follows : ilr. Rich- 
ardson had gone with an empty wagon for 
a load of wood to take to a poor man, who 
luul been injured at a threshing machine. 
His horses became frightened when near 
Jared Emmerson's place, and ran away. He 
was thrown violently against a tree, and 
was almost instantly killed. His death was 
sincerely regretted and mourned by all who 
knew him, as he was a charitable, kind- 
hearted, Christian gentleman, who was held 
in the hig-hest esteem as a neiohbor and an 
exemplary citizen. His widow still resides 
on the old homestead. 



\^vlSCAR A. KELLY. The subject of the 
\^hi/ present ijiogra}>hy, a resident of sec- 
tion 3U, Langhei. is one of the most intelli- 
gent and best posted citizens of the south- 
western portion of the county. He is a 
native of Adrian, Michigan, where he was 
born July 6, 1853, and is a son of Thomas 
and Catharine (Murphy ) Kelly. His parents 
were natives of "Wexfoi-d, Ireland. Init the}' 
came to Canada at an earl}^ day, and were 
married in that Dominion. The father 
learned the trade of a shoemaker in his na- 
tive land, and followed that calling both 
there and in Canada, having landed at Que- 
bec in 18-17. A few years later they settled 
at Oswego, I^ew York, where they remained 
for two years, and then removed to Adrian, 
Michigan. In 1854 they came to Minnesota, 
and located at Osseo, in Hennepin county, 



POPE COUNTY, MIATiVESOTA 



285 



wliei'e tlie ]i;u'ents still live. During later 
yeai's the father has followeil farming and 
stock-raising, i)eing particularly interested in 
gardening and raising small fruits. Mr. and 
^frs. Thomas Kelly were the partMits of four 
children — Julia, ^lary, Oscar and Nora. 
Julia became the wife of D. F. Smith, a 
teachei- in irinneapolis, and died in that city. 

Oscar Kelly, onr present subject, received 
an excellent education, attending the schools 
at Osseo and supplementing this with athree 
year's course at the State University in Min- 
neapolis. He finished ids schooling, and in 
January, 1876, went to California and 
worked in a quicksilver mine, returning tlie 
following April. Fi-om that time until he was 
twent3'-five he remained at home aiding his 
father on the farm. He then married andre- 
maiiuHi at the home place for two years, when, 
in 1881, he came to Pope county. Alinnesota, 
and settled upon his present farm on section 
30, Langhei township, wliei'e he has since 
lived, lie now has a valuable rami, c()in])ris- 
inir I'in acres of land, a "'ood deal of which 
is untler cultivation, and he has comfortable 
imjirovements. He carries on general farm- 
ing and devotes considerable attention to 
graded cattle, especially Shorthorns. 

The date of Mr. Kelly's marriage was 
^larch 5, 187'.>. when he wedded Miss Jessie 
M. Eddy, and they are the parents of three 
children — Vernon, Thomas V>. and Amy. 
Mrs. Kelly is a native of Maple Grove, Hen- 
nepin county, Minnesota, and is a daughter 
of John and Mar^^ C. (Evans) Eddy, who 
were natives of Vermont. She received an 
excellent education, and for a number of 
years followed the profession of a school 
teacher — teaching for five years in Ibnne- 
j)in county, one term in Swift and one term 
in Pope county. Her parents were among 
tiie pioneers of Hennepin county, Minnesota, 
having lived there for over thirty years. 
Her father is now a I'cal estate tlealer in the 
city of Minneapolis, and is also a veterinary 



surgeon. Her parents had a family of five 
children — Jessie, H. Lee, John M., A'ernon 
and Palph. 

In political matters Mr. Kelly is a repub- 
lican. He has always taken an active inter- 
est in ])ublic matters, and for several 3'ears 
has held the office of justice of peace in his 
township. He is a man of excellent busi- 
ness ability, and is one of the leading citi- 
zens of the township in which he lives. Mrs. 
Kelly is at present the local corresi)ondent 
of the Benson Times, and for some time was 
corres[)ondentfoi" the Hancock Olive Branch. 
She is a pungent writer and a lady of high 
mental and literary attainments. 

^BEN TAYLOR, one of the enterprising 

Vt^ and successful farmers of Westport 
township, is a native of Maine, born Decem- 
ber :2, 1821, at New Vineyard. He is the son 
of Joshua ami Alariam (Pinkhani) Taylor, 
natives of Lewiston, Maine. The parents 
were married and died in that State after an 
eventful life. They were the parents of six 
children, four sons and two daughters — 
Enos, Joshua, Ellen, Eben, Ireson aixl Mary 
Ann; all of whom are now dead, except 
Joshua and one sister. Oui' subject si)cnt his 
earlier years at New Vineyard, where he re- 
ceived his education and lived until twenty 
years of age. He came to Pope county, in 
1868, during the month of September, and 
became one of the first settlers of West])ort 
township. He bought out a quarter section 
claim at first, but now has 320 acres, besides 
ten acres of timber lami. He raises both 
grain and stock, and has been very success- 
ful. He has excellent im]n-ovements. includ- 
iuir a tine irrove and fruit trees, and the farm 
is one of the most valuable in the township. 

Mr. Taylor was married to Julia Graton, 
a native of Maine. She died after three 
years of manned life, leaving two children — 



286 



POPE COUNTY, MINXF.SOTA. 



Ella and Emiline. The last named is now 
dead. In February, 1847, Mr. Taylor mar- 
ried, for ills second wife, Margaret .Tudkins, 
a native of Lexington, ilaine, born October 
20, 1826, and a daughter of Abner and Marv 
(Vose) Judkins. Her father died in Febru- 
ar\% 18S8, at the age of eigiity-four years. 
Mrs. Tavlor is the oldest in her ])arent's 
family of right children. 

15v his first wife Mr. Tayh^r became the 
fatiier of two children— Ellen and Ettie. ]>y 
the second marriage thei'e iiave been born a 
family of eight children — Angle, Winifred, 
Abner, Chauncy, Ida, Arietta, Eugene and 
James. Arlett;^ married Benjamin Rice, 
and died in Westport townshij). in February, 
1876. Angle married William II. Ladd, a 
farmer of Westport township. 

Mr. Taylor is one of the earliest pioneers 
in the northeastern part of the county, and 
through all his years of residence here has 
retained the esteem and respect of all, both 
as a neighbor and asan exemplary citizen. He 
is an honored memlierof the United Brethren 
Church. 



/^HRISTEN HUSET, a thrifty and ener- 
V^y getic farmer, residing in Lake Johanna 
township, section 15, was born in Wisconsin, 
April 5, IS-tS. Ills parents, who are natives 
of Norway, came to this country in 18i4, 
and after landing in New York, they went 
to Walworth county, Wisconsin, then to 
Dane county, Wisconsin, and from there 
came to Goodhue county, Minnesota. After 
staying in that county for some time, they 
came to Pope county. The father of our 
subject enlisted in 1862, in Company D, Third 
Minnesota Infantry, and served as a fifer 
until his honorable discharge in 1863. While 
in the service OleHuset contracted a disease 
of which he died in 1863. The mother 'is 
living with our subject, at the advanced age 



of sixty -five years, and is an honored mem- 
ber of the Lutiieran Church. She is the 
mother of ten children — Ole. Christen (our 
subject), Maria, Mary. Bertha, Hannah, 
Lewis, Caroline, Anna and Hans. Anna mar- 
ried John Olson, and afterward Lewis Tor- 
gusson. Caroline, Anna and Hans are dead. 
Our subject received his education in Wiscon- 
sin and JSlinnesota. He came to Minnesota 
wlien he was seven yeai's of age, and in 1868 
came with his mother and brother to Pope 
county. Minnesota, ami bought his present 
place of Peter Israelson, in 1881. Mr. lluset 
is a representative man of his township, 
and is highly esteemed by all who know him. 
He has a tine farm of 160 acres, with good 
building improvements, and is in excellent 
circumstances. In political matters he is a 
republican, and takes an active interest in 
all public and educational affairs. 



James WAMSLEY, one of the most intel- 
^ ligent and successful old settlers of the 
northern portion of Pope county, resides on 
section 15, I-even township. 

Mr. AVamsle_y is a native of Canada West, 
where he was born on the 10th of July, 
1845, and is a son of James and Anna (Rut- 
ledge) Wamsley. His parents were natives 
of Ireland, who came to America in their 
youth, and located in Canada, where they 
were married, and where the father enoajjed 
in farming. The parents had a family of 
eight children, whose names were as fol- 
lows — James, Mary J., Charles, John, Let- 
tie, Edward, Catharine and Anna. Two of 
the boys and three of the girls are still 
living. 

James Wamsley, our present subject, spent 
his bo\'hood days and received his education 
in the province of his birth, attending school 
until he was about seventeen years of age. 
He then began learning the carjienter's 



POPE COUNTY, !.IlNA'ESOTA. 



287 



ti'ade, and served an ai)|)renticeslii|3 of two 
years, after whjcli lie worked as a journe}'- 
iiian for live or six years, farming, liowever, 
a portion of the time. Since then farming 
and stock-raising- have lieen his principal avo- 
cations. In the spring of IS'Jit lie came to 
Pope count}', Minnesota, and settled upon a 
liomostcail in Tieno township. There he 
lived foi" three or four years, and then sold 
out and pnicliased liis present place on sec- 
tion 1."), I, even township, where he lias since 
lived. Ho now owns 3r»0 acres of land, with 
comfortable improvements, where he carries 
on jjeneral farmin"- and stock-raisino- devot- 
ing considerable attention to graded and 
blooded stock, including llolstein cattle. 

Mr. Wamsloy was married on the oth of 
March, 1872, to Miss Annie Keys, and they 
liave been the parents of four children — 
Ellsworth. Allen, Lettie and Eufus, all of 
whom are single and at home. Mrs. Wams- 
ley was born and brought n[) in Canada, and 
was a daughter of Thomas and Lettie (Tal- 
bot) Keys. Her jiai-ents were natives of 
Ireland, but had settled in ('anada at an 
early day. 

Ww AVamsley has always taken an active 
and i)rominent pai't in the public affairs of 
the township, and his name is closely identi- 
fied with its olHcial history. lie has held 
various local otlices, such as supervisor, 
clerk, etc. 



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'r|%;HORE RUD, a thriftv farmer, residing 
•3L on section 12, Ulue Mounds townsliip, 
is a native of Norway, born at Throndhgem, 
^farch 18, 1850, and is a son of John Thor^- 
son. Thore liud, our subject, grew to man- 
hood in his native land and remained there 
until lie was twenty-eight years of age, re- 
ceiving in infancy that drilling in industry, 
economy and integrity whicii are ciiaracter- 
istic of his race. When twenty-eight he 



sailed for the United States, and after a 
voyage of ten days landed in Philadelphia. 
He then came to lied Wing, Mmnesota, later 
to St. Paul, and then to Hancock, Stevens 
county, Minnesota, in 1879. He tiien pur- 
chased a farm in Blue Mounds township, 
Pope county, where he has since lived. He 
owns IfiO acres of land in I'lue IMounds, and 
eighty acres in Harsness township, an<i de- 
votes his attention to stock and grain-raising. 

]\rr. Pud was married in 'May. 1882, to^NLiss 
Johanna Skaaden, who was born in Norway 
in 1864. Her people came to Pope county 
in 18ii7, and were among the earliest settlers 
in the township. Her father is dead. Mr. 
and Mrs. Pud are the parents of three chil- 
dren — Carrie, John and Mary. In political 
matters Mr. Pud is a republican, ami is one 
of the leading citizens of the township. 

Mr. Rud's ])arents had four children — Ole, 
deceased; Lars, Thore and John. The par- 
ents came to the L^nited States in 1886. 



•«"S^^'-^- 



I^ENT PETERSON, a prosperous and 
highly esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, is a resident of section 8, (iilchrist 
tow-nship. He was born in Sweden. October 
14, 1847. and is a son of Peter and Eliza 
Benson, who are natives of that kingdom. 
When Bent was six years of age he, with his 
parents, came to the United States and set- 
tled in Dane county, Wisconsin, and remained 
there two years, Avhen they moved to (lood- 
hue county, Minnesota. There his father 
pre(MiT})te(l l('>o acres of land in Wanemengo 
township, and the parents are at present 
residing tiiere. 

The subject of this sketch made his home 
with his father and mother until he w;us 
twenty-nine yeai-s of age. In his younger 
days Mr. Peterson enjoyed the ])i'ivileges of 
a common school education, and at twenty 
veai's of age he entered Ilamline University 



288 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



at Red Win^. Minnesota, remaining there 
two terms, after which lie followed the pro- 
fession of a school teacher for one \'ear, 
when he entered Carlton College, at North- 
field. Minnesota. His health broke down 
after one term, and Iw the advice of medical 
practitioners he abandoned his studies, and 
again taught for five 3'ears. In 1875 he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and settled upon 
his present farm, which coni]irises 200 aci'es 
of excellent land, five aci'es of which is tim- 
ber. He has 10<i acres under cultivation, and 
is in very comfortable circumstances. lie 
takes an active interest in all jniblic and 
educational matters, and has held the follow- 
ing offices — supervisor for eleven years, 
school clerk three years, and township clerk 
at the present writing. 

Mr. Peterson was united in marriage June 
2, 1875, to Miss Olena Groberg, daughter of 
Ole and Siri Groberg, who came to Pope 
county in 1869, and took a farm on section 
S, Gilchrist, where they are now living. Mr. 
Peterson and wife in their union have been 
blessed with the followingchildren — Sophia, 
Paulina, Clara, Ella and Mabel. The family 
are exemplary members of the Lutheran 
Church. Our subject is a republican in his 
])olitical alHliations, and is regarded as one 
of the most capable business men ami intelli- 
gent citizens in the southern jiart of the 
county. 



^HaGNUS HANSON, a prominent and 
JS^Ji%^ successful farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 28, liolling Fork township, is a tiirifty 
representative of his nationality, lie was 
born near (Miristiania, Norway, Fel)iuary 2, 
1839, and is a son of Hans and Mary ((Jlson) 
Hanson, wiio are natives of that kingdom. 
At the age of fifteen he left home and com- 
menced life for himself by learning the black- 
smith trade; and after working at his trade 



until 1860 he came to the United States. 
He first settled in Houston county, Min- 
nesota, where he worked at his trade for 
three years, and then came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and took a homestead in Rolling 
Fork township, on section 28, where he has 
since remained. He is engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising, has an extensive 
farm of 480 acres, with 160 acres under cul- 
tivation, and although he has lost two crops 
by " hoppers,'' he is in excellent circum- 
stances, and is one of the leatiing citizens of 
his township. 

The subject of this sketch was married to 
Miss ]\Iary Christenson, daughter of Christen 
Olson and Carrie (Swenson) Olson, in Sep- 
tember, 1863, and they have the following 
children — Henry, Harry, Thadeus, Martin. 
Olaf and Peter. 

Mr. Hanson has been honored Avith the 
following offices — chairman of su]jervisors, 
school treasurer, etc. In political matters 
our subject affiliates with the republican 
party. 



^^VERETT W. FISH, of Glenwood, editor 
Xfe^ and proprietor of the Central Min- 
jiesotian, is one of the most highly educated, 
intelligent and able men in this part of the 
State. He is a native of Livingston county, 
New York, l)oi'n December 2, 18-15, and is 
a son of David 1). and Prudentia (Pattison) 
Fish, who were natives, respectively, of New 
York ami Verniont. The father was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business for years in 
New York and latter in the wiiolesale tea 
trade in Detroit, and died in Michigan in 
1880. The mother died in Canaila in 1847. 
They were the parents of two sons. Everett 
W., tiie subject (jf our ]n'esent article, and 
Charles P. The latter died in New York 
City. He was a man of much aljility, both 
natural and acquired, and for a number of 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



289 



years occupied a ]iosilion on the staff of the 
Jfew York Ilerahl. He also had charge of 
Siiiiial Service Headquarters on the Aiasivan 
Islands, haviny; studied astronomy at the 
Kew Astronomical Institute, in London, and 
afterwai'd became very prondnent in mete- 
orological affairs. 

The jtarents and ancestoi's of Everett W. 
Fish for several genei'ations back were 
Americans, but beyond that the foreparents 
were English. The ])arentsof Prudentia Fish 
(mother of our subject) were Dr. Samuel W. 
and Phoebe (Atwood) Pattison. The Doctor 
practiced medicine in New York for a few 
years and then removed to Michigan, while 
it was still a territory, settling at Ypsilanti, 
where he remained until the time of his 
death. He was a man of prominence and 
influence in tlie locality in which he lived. 

Everett W. lived with his grandparents. 
Dr. and Mrs. Pattison. from the time he was 
four years of age, atleiuling school and re- 
ceiving an excellent education. He was 
graduated fi'om the Union Senuuary, at 
Ypsilanti, in If^ti?., and prepared for the 
I'liiversity at the State Normal. liefore 
liuisliing his universitv course, however, he 
took a scientific course in the medical and 
laboratory departments, spending six yeai-s of 
faithful work and study in this institution. 

In his chiklhoo 1 he had learneil the print- 
ing business, and when eighteen years old 
he became an etlitor on the staff of the De- 
troit Daily Free Press. Subsequently he 
published the Cincinnati Medical Advance, 
and became the professor of chemistry in 
the Pulte iledical (\jllege of Cincinnati. 
He also published his text book on (Qualita- 
tive Analysis. After practicing medicine 
for five or six years he was called to Chi- 
cago to publish the scientific monthly. The 
Illustrated Cosmos. Within this time he had 
l)r(>uglit out the lii-st two editions of his 
'.voi'k on the (ireat Pyramid of Fgypt. and 
translated what is known as the Tanrian 



Myth. For some fifteen years he was an in- 
valid from a sui-gical disease, and he devoted 
his time to scientific study and to the trans- 
lation of antiquarian woik and inscriptions, 
often taking the lecture field for scientific 
societies. h\ 1881 he was subjected to a 
surgical operation at the hand of the cele- 
brated Dr. CTunn. of Chicago, which was sue 
cessful, and he was restored to active life 
again. Upon his recovery he went West to 
engage in outdoor pursuits, and invested in 
a stock ranch on the Missouri bottoms in 
Western Iowa. This he followed for three 
years, but did not meet with financial suc- 
cess. In the winter of lSS(i-7 he was in- 
vited to visit Glenwood, Pope county, Min- 
nesota, to publish a paper, and seeing a fine 
opening, he established the Central Minneso- 
tian in the following ^fay. He is an ener- 
getic, enterprising man, a forcible writer, 
and thoroughly conversant with all the de- 
tails of the newspiiper business. He has met 
with merited success. 

Mr. Fish was married in 1S71 to Miss 
Elizabeth A. Patterson, a daughter of Hon. 
J. C. Patterson, a prominent politician and 
canal shipper of Brockjiort, New York, and 
latei' of Michigan. Both Mr. and J\Irs. Fish 
are people of high literary attainments, edu- 
cation and refinement, and are held in high 
esteem. 



-«-; 



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C. WOLLAN, a successful and ])r()mi- 
Mi/ nent farmer and stock-raiser, residing 
on section 15, White Pear Lake township, 
was born in Norway, July 25, 1840. He was 
reared on a farm, and received in early life 
that training in imlustry, economy and in- 
tetiritv which have become such familiar 
traits in the nationality from which he 
springs. He left his native land when eiglit- 
1 een years of age, for America, atid pro- 
I ceeded to Winnesheik countv, Iowa, where 



290 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



several of his brothers were then living. A 
short time later he went to Allamakee 
county, Iowa, where he worked dui-in^ har- 
vesting, after which, in company with two of 
his brothers, he went to Missouri, Louisiana 
and other States on the Mississippi river, 
working on tiie levees. In the spring they 
returned to Allamakee county, Iowa, and 
after a short time spent in braking and rail- 
road work, our subject went to the copper 
mines of Xorthern ]\Iichigan, and worked 
one winter as a clerk in a store. The follow- 
ing spring he came to Minnesota, and located 
in Winona, whei-e he remained for three 
years. In the spring of 1S07 he joined a 
train of some sixteen wagons, bound for 
Northern Minnesota. They came direct to 
Sauk Center, and fi-om there to Pope count}', 
and camped at Glen wood while they spent 
several days in looking over the country. 
Xot being satisfied with the prospects, the 
party proceeded to Douglas and Otter Tail 
counties, where twelve or fourteen of the 
party found suitable locations. Tlie remain- 
ing four, including our subject, returned to 
Pope county, and selected claims in White 
Bear Lake township. B. C. WoUan, being a 
single man, did not take a claim at that time, 
but helped the others to get in shape and 
build their shanties. Our subject then re- 
turned to Rushford, Fillmore county, and 
worked during the fall and winter. In Feb- 
ruary, 1S68, he, with his brother Michael, 
started from Rushford for Pope county, and 
came by railroad and stage as far as Sauk 
Center, and fi-om, there walked to their des- 
tination. During that year our subject took 
a houiestead on section 15, White Bear Lake 
townshi]), where he has since lived. He now 
has a valuable farm of 200 acres, of which 
seventy acres are under cultivation, witii a 
good grove and comfortable im]irovements. 
Mr. Wollan has in the past taken considera- 
ble interest in townsliij) afl'airs, and is one of 
the leading citizens in the community in 



which he lives. He was the first constable 
of the township, and held that office for 
raan_y years. 

Mr. Wollan was married on the 27th of 
JuJy.lSTS, to Miss Secre Anna ( )lseii, and they 
have been the^mrents of nine children — Ole, 
Benjamin (deceased), John, Bertha, Ben- 
jamin, Sophia, Olof, Olgar (deceased) and 
Alma. The family are exemplary members 
of the Lutheran Church. 



IfeEWIS CARLSON, one of Pope county's 



most prosperous and highly esteemed 
citizen, is a resident of section 11, Ben Wade 
township. Our subject, as well as his par- 
ents, are natives of Sweden, Lewis being 
born at Elsborg, Lend Kolnges, Hared, 
Skora Stiff, Sweden, November 25, 1839. 
At the age of nineteen he learned the tailor's 
trade, which he was engaged in until IStiO, 
when he came to the United States. Mr. 
Carlson came direct to Minnesota, settling at 
Aft(jn, Washington county, wJiere he worked 
for farmers until 1861. He enlisted Septem- 
ber 20. 1861 in Company B, Thii'd Minnesota 
Volunteer Infantry, and served until Septem- 
ber 26, 1865, when he was honorabl}' dis- 
ciiarged. He participated in a great many 
hanl engagements, and was taken prisoner at 
^lurfreesboro, Tennessee. When his regi- 
ment was ]3aroled they were taken to Jefferson 
Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, and went from 
there to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. From 
the latter place the regiment were ordered 
to the frontier to fight Indians, ami our sub- 
ject remained there until his discharge. He 
remained at Afton during the winter of 1865, 
and in the spring of 1866 he, with his brother 
.lohn, bought a farm in Dakota county, 
Minnesota, between Hastings and St. I'aul. 
There he staid until the j-ear 18S6, wiien 
he removed to Pope county and purchased 
a farm in Ben Wade township, on section 11, 



rOPF. COUNTY. AfLV.VESOTA 



291 



his present residence. He has a good farm 
of 160 acres with comfortable ini])i-ovements. 
Mr. Carlson was a pooi- man at the time of 
his arrival in tliis country, and was Hi'ty dol- 
lars in (U^lit. lint liy that energy, thrift and. 
industry which so distinguish the people of 
his nationality, he has ])laced himsell' in liis 
present comfoi'table circumstances, and is 
now i'(>gardcd as one of the most substantial 
farmci's in the northern part of the county. 

The subject of this sketch was united in 
marriage, January fi, ISfiil, to ]\Iiss Lena 
fvouchen, a native of Wittenberg, (Terman\\ 
and they have been blessed witii the follow- 
ing ciiildren — Hilda, Walter, Emma and 
II(M-man. ^Ii'. Carlson affiliates with the re- 
jttdilican jiarty in jtoiitical matters. 



J\. 



ATHAN FILLMORE TOBEY, a re. 
spected farmer, residing on section 
15, Walden townshiji, was born at China, 
Kennebec county. Maine, September 1, 1850. 
lie went to the common school, and worked 
in his father's butcher shop, driving the meat 
wagon during iiis bo3'hood days. Later he 
ran a confectioner's store, and worked in the 
saw mills at Augusta, Maine. In the fall of 
1S71 lie came to Minnesota, and, ;ifter re- 
maining in Newport for about a month, 
went into the pineries during the winter, and 
the next summer he worked in the Minne- 
apolis saw mills. The following winter he 
again went into the pineries, and in the 
spring of 1S73 he came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, where he took a homestead in sec- 
tion 28, Hodges township. There he stayed 
for eight years, wlien he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and settled on section 
15, Walden township, where he still lives. 

The subject of this memoir was married 
February 22, 1880, to Miss Linna Judd, of 
Grcjve Lake. She was born at Cannon City, 
Minnesota, September lU, 18G1. They have 



been blessed with the following children — 
Nina Maria, born April C, 1882; Grace 
Eleanor, born May 15, 1884; Edith May, 
born January 9, 1886, and Willie Bartlett, 
born .V|)ril 8, 1888. In religious affairs the 
family are Universalists. Politically, Jlr. 
Tobey affiliates with the dcmoci-atic party, 
aniltakesan active interest in the campaigns 
of that organizat ion. 



.«^; 



WILDER R. HOLLY, a successful 
farmer, residing on section IT, of 
Westport township, was born, December 18, 
1814, in llock county, Wisconsin. He is the 
son of John and Temperance (Kice) Holly. 
Our subject is the fourth child of his parents' 
family. He spent his school days in Green 
Lake county, Wisconsin, his parents moving 
when he was three years old to St. Mario, 
and at the age of twenty years he married 
Miss Harriett Shipley, a native of Ohio. 
She \vas the daughter of J(jhn Shipley, who 
was a farmer. She was educated and mar- 
ried in St. Marie, Wisconsin. After si.x years 
of married life she died, leaving two chil- 
dren — Oscar I. and Walton W. Mr. Holly 
was married the second time, December 2, 
1871, to ]\Iiss Annie Wilson, a native of 
Pennsylvania, but she was educated and 
raised in Southern Minnesota. Her father 
was Putnam Wilson, a farmer and ffsherman. 
Mi's, H0II3' is the fourth of seven children in 
her father's family. She is the mother of 
two children — Artildine I. and Bertha Maud, 
both of whom are still living at home. Mr. 
Holly came to Pope county in November, 
1870, and purchased a quarter section of land 
on section 17. He added one imjjrovement 
to another until he has come to be the 
posses-ssor of one of the finest and most val- 
uable farms in the whole township in whicli 
he lives. 

Formerly <nir subject was a rei)ublican in 



2r|2 



POPE COU.VTY. Afl.VXESOTA 



his political belief, but at present is an ardent 
advocate of tlie principles of tlie proliibition 
])arty. He is an active man, and has always 
been held in hio'h esteem bv his neio-libors. 
He has held many local oiBces, including 
school dii'ector of district No. 20, which 
place he has held for many years. He be- 
lieves in tlie good to be accomplished by 
secret organization, and is a member in good 
standing of the Masonic, Good Templar and 
Grange Lodges. 

By dint of industry our subject has sub- 
dued a wild prairie farm to be one of fine 
cultivation, while its owner has been blessed 
with an interesting family and ever retained 
a fair name for himself. He is a man of the 
strictest integrity, and is held in high esteem 
as a neigiilinr and an exemplaiy citizen. 



-«— ; 



¥."; 



HOMAS WARBURTON. The subject 
f the present biograjjliy resides on 
section 9, Hoff township, and is one of the 
most intelligent and enterprising farmers in 
that portion of the county. He is a native 
of England, Imrii about four miles north of 
Manchester, October 20, 1844, and is a son 
of John and Mary Ann (Gibson) Warburton. 
The family came to the United States in 
1856, and settled in Winnesiiiek countv, 
Iowa, where the father died in 1865. The 
father, John Warburton, enlisted during the 
war in the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, and served 
as chaplain, being mustered out in Decem- 
ber, 1864, at Yankton, Dakota TerritorJ^ 
He was a farmer through life. His widow 
still lives on the old homestead in Winne- 
shiek county, Iowa. In their family there 
were three boj's and two girls — Maria, 
Thomas, AVilliam, Pliebe, and John Henry, 
all of whom are living in Iowa except 
Thomas. 

Thomas Warburton spent his school days 
and grew to maniiood in Winneshiek county, 



Iowa. After finishing his schooling he aided 
in carrying on the home farm until attaining 
his majority, and then began farming on his 
own account. He renuiined in Iowa until 
1879, wiien lie came to Pope county, INIinn- 
esota, and located on his jiresent farm on 
section 9, Hoff townshij). This has since 
been his iionie. and he now owns 2o(i .-icres 
of land, with good improvements, and de- 
votes his time to diversified farming and 
stock-raising. 

Ml-. Warburton was married in March, 
1865, to Mrs. ]\Iargaret Stephenson. She 
was formei'ly Margaret Greenhalgh. Her 
first husljand died in the army. By this 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Warburton liave been 
blessed with the following children — Bertha 
E., Walter, John, Mary E., Henry, Phebe 
and Thomas M., living, and Gilman and a 
twin lirother are deceased. Bertha E. is 
married to Arthur Dudley, of Todil county, 
Minnesota. 

Mr. Warburton is a republican in politics. 
He has always taken an active interest in 
educational matters, and has served as direc- 
tor in his district, as well as otherwise doin"' 

o 

his full share in all public matters. 



-^^ 



lg)OBERT PEACOCK, a prominent and 
101^ representative citizen, and one of tlie 
first settlers in the northern part of Pope 
county, resides on section 17, Reno township. 
He is a native of the town of Goodrich, Can- 
ada West, born October 8, 1841, and is a son 
of John and Rebecca (Cunningham) Pea- 
cock. His parents raised a family of eleven 
children, he being the eighth born. Both of 
his ])arents died in Canada. 

Robert Peacock grew to manhood and re- 
ceived his education in the province of his 
birth. His father died when he was only 
five years of age. After attending school 
until he had reached the age of fifteen, he 



rOPE COU.VTY, MI.WVESOTA. 



293 



then 1io1|)(h1 his mother in tiie care and man- 
agement of tlie home farm. lie remained at 
home until he had attained tlicageof twenty- 
five, wlien he left home and came to Minne- 
sota. Here he followed various kinds of 
labor, such as farming, binding, haying, 
chopping cord-wood, etc., and remained sev- 
eral months. At the expiration of that time 
he returned to his home in Canada, and 
while there, in May, 1S6T, he was married 
to lliith AVilson. The couple at once came 
to Pope county, arriving on the 23d of May, 
180", and located in wliat is now Reno town- 
shi]). where they have since lived. Mr. Pea- 
cock lias one of the most valuable farms in 
the township, comprising- 320 acres of land, 
a good share of it being under a high state 
of tillage, and he has comfortable im])rove- 
ments. In connection with general farming- 
lie cari-ies on stock-raising quite extensively 

In ])olitical matters, Mr. Peacock is a demo- 
crat, lie has always taken an active inter- 
est in all educational matters and jmiilic 
affairs, and has held various school and town- 
ship offices. While living in Canada for four 
years, he was a member of the '■ Order of 
Orangemen." 

Mrs. Peacock was born in Ireland, but was 
brought up in Canada. Her parents, Wil- 
liam and Ann (Dale) Wilson, both died in 
Canada. Mr. and ^Irs. I'eacock have been 
tiie parents of six children, fourof whom are 
still living — Fannie, Ida, George and Nettie. 
Those deceaseil were ]Mary A., who died at 
a little over two years of age, and John ,1., 
who died when onlv a few davs old. 



z^LaNS ENGEBRETSON, a successful 
-IL'^'SL farmer and an old settler, who i-e- 
sides upon section 1!) of Glenwooil township, 
was born in Norway, January 2, 1S32, anil is 
tiie son of Engebrit Engebretson and Brit 
(Thoresdatter) Engebretson, both natives of 



Xor'vay. The father was an extensive boot 
and shoe manufacturer, which business he 
followed until the time of his death. The 
mother came to America in 1870, settlino- in 
Pope county, Minnesota, where she remained 
until death overtook her, in 1885. They had 
five sons, whose whereabouts are as follows — 
Engebret, engaged at farming in Norway ; 
Toi-y, Hans, Ilogan, of Iowa, also engaged in 
farming ; John, now dead, lived in Pope 
county from 1870 to ISSG. The parents 
were both devoted Lutherans, and were re- 
spected Ijy all who knew them. 

Our subject was reared at home and earlv 
learned to assist his father at boot and shoe 
making. At the age of seventeen he left 
home and went on the seas as a fishernum 
foi- three years. We next liml him working 
at the forge and anvil in the City of Bodo, 
where he remained for nine years, keeping 
from six to ten men, and did an extensive 
business. In 1857, he came to America, set- 
tling lirst in Chicago, Illinois, following his 
former trade. In 1861 he answered the call 
for soldiers to protect the Hag of liis adopted 
country and enlisted in Company A, Fif- 
teenth Wisconsin Infantry, in which he 
served as gunsmith for some time. When 
he went South he was made a corporal. 
At the battle of Stone River, he was 
wounded and was in tlie hospital a 
month or more. The wound was caused 
by a ball entering above the right breast, 
and the ball still remains uiuler the shoulder- 
blade. For three years he carried his arm 
in a sling. His teini of service was three 
yeai-s and three months. He was in battles 
in Kentucky, at Stone River, and in front of 
AVashington when General Breckenridge 
made his charge on that place. After his 
discharge he returned to Chicago, remained 
one month, then came to Mower county 
Minnesota, where he purchased land and en- 
gaged in farming. He remained two yeai-s, 
and in 1867 came to Pope county, Miune- 



294 



rOPE COUXTY, MINXESOTA. 



sota. and settleil <>n a liomestead. where he 
now lives. His I'anu is part prairie and part 
timijer. He built a log house 12x14 feet in 
size. He has since pui-chased 150 acres of 
land joining his former place. In 1S71 he 
built a fine fiame house, and a barn in 1877. 
With all his improvements, his place is as 
fine as there is in the county. He raises 
grain and stock very successfully. 

Mr. Engebretson was married in ISfiG to 
]\[iss Janette Helene Anderson, a native of 
Norway. She is the daughter of Ander and 
Christiane (Hanssonj Anderson. Mr. and 
Mrs. Eno'ebretson have seven livini;' chil- 
dren — Amelia, now Mrs. John Iverson (who 
is the mother of one child. Cora, by Mi'. 
Iverson and one by her former husband, Lo 
Benson); the remaining family are Annie, 
Edwin, William, Heniy, Nellie and John. 

In pohtics, Mr. Engebretson is a i-epuiili- 
can, and was chairman of the townsliip super- 
visors, also county commissioner for some 
time. Both he a)ul liis family are members 
of the Lutheran (jhurch. 



^^^ 



^^VEN PETERSON, a well-to-do farmer 
"^O) living on section 9, Ben Wade town- 
ship, is a native of Sweden, born at Nora, 
November 8, 1838. He commenced life for 
himself at the age of eleven, by herding 
cattle, and when he became old enough 
did farm labor. In 1S65 he immigrated 
to America., and came direct to (Toodhue 
county, Minnesota, where he worketl for 
farmers. After harvest he journeyed to 
Red Wing, Afinnesota, and engaged in a 
saw mill until winter, and then worked 
during the winter at wood-chopping. In 
the spring he again went to worlv for farm- 
ers, and remained at tiiat occupation till 
August, when he went to Wisconsin and 
worked in a saw mill for three months. He 
then returned to Red Wing, Minnesota, 



and bought two and a half acres of timber 
land, which he cleared for cord wood. After 
selling out and working until spring, he 
moved to Pope county, Minnesota, and took 
a homestead in Ben AVaile township. He 
filed on his claim and made some improve- 
ments, and then went to Stillwater, I\Iinne- 
sota, from where he helped I'lin a raft down 
the I'iver to St. Louis, Missouri, after which 
he again went to Red Wing. There he re- 
sided until the next sjiring, engaged in a saw 
mill and various other occupati(jns. Hetlien 
went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was 
taken sick and was conlined for a long time, 
his medical attendance costing him $73. 
Ul)on his full recovery he went to Anoka, 

! Minnesota, where he worked foi- a Mr. Mar 
tin until harvest, when he hired out to 'Wv. 
Ualrvmple until October, and came from 

I there to his claim, and has since made this 
his home. 

Mr. Peterson was nuu'rietl Feliruary 21, 
1867, to Miss Christine Charlotte Daleen,an(l 
the\^ have been blessed with the following 
children — Frank E.. Anna A., Charles, Sena, 
Lydia, Albert and Robert. Our subject 
takes an active interest in all public matters, 
and is a staunch republican in his ])olitics. 



-.^^ 



^LE NELSON URNES, a successful, en- 



terprising and respected citizen of 
White Bear Lake township, is engaged in 



fai'uiing and stock-raising on section 3. 



He 

was born in Norway in 1832 and his boyhood 
davs were spent in the land of his birth, 
where he was raised on a farm. When he 
was eighteen or nineteen years of age, he 
was appointed sheriff of his district and 
served for two years. When he was twenty- 
two lie adopted a seafaring life and shipped 
as a sailor on a fishing vessel. He followed 
this calling for eight years continuously. In 
1862 he came to the United States and lo- 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



295 



cated ill Fillmore county, Minnesota, where 
for two years he was employed at farm 
labor. As the Civil War was then in i)i'og- 
ress, on tiie 15th of August, 1864, he enlisted 
in Company II, Fouitli Minnesota Infantry, 
and went Soutii. His regiment was in the 
front during the balance of the war and look 
part in ail the campaigns under (ieneral 
Sherman, our subject participating in many 
skirmishes and a number of battles, includ- 
ing tlujse of Altoona, Georgia, and the 
siege of Savannah, December 10 to 20, ISGi. 
After tiie close of the war he was honorably 
discharged June 12, 1865, at Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and returned to his ^finnesota iiome. 
Later in the same 3-ear, he purchased a farm 
of 160 acres, in Fillmore county, and tilled 
the soil there until 1871. when he sold out 
and came to Poj)e county, Minnesota, pur- 
chasing at that time, his present farm of 160 
acres on section 3, White Bear Lake town- 
sliij). lie has a vaiualile farm, some seventy 
acres beuig under cultivation, witli a line 
grove surrounding his buildings, lie is a 
man of the strictest integrity, an active 
member of the Lutheran Church, and stands 
high as an upright citizen in the coiiimunity 
in which he lives. 

Our subject was married while living in 
Fillmore county, Minnesota, to Miss Chris- 
tine Saniuelson, and they have a family of 
seven living children — Nels, Annie, Hans, 
Olaus, Minnie, Tomena, Serena. 



^i^DWARD HOMESTAD, a prosperous 
Vfe^ citizen of Pope county, resides on sec- 
tion 5, Ben Wade township. He was born 
in Vernon ccnmt}', Wisconsin, May 2. 1864, 
and in 1874 he came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, where ids father bought a farm of John 
Carlson. ()\w suljject has the following- 
brothers and sisters — Paulina, Mary, Ed- 



ward, Peter, Julia, Henry. Ida, and Nellie. 
]\raiy is married to Knute Nelson, a tailor in 
Mollis, ^Minnesota. Paulina is married to 
Ole Severson, a carpenter in Morris. The 
father, Christian Homestad, is dead. 

Edward Homestad was married in ilay, 
1888, to Mrs. Eva Carlson, widow of Gustaf 
Carlson, by whom she had the following 
children — Anna, Mena, Arthur and xVlbion. 
Our subject's mother. Enieline (Wigdale) 
Ilcmicstad, is living with him. He is very 
comfortably situated, having 360 acres with 
two comfortable houses and good improve- 
ments. He owns six horses, fort3^-five head 
of cattle, and is one of the most successful 
farmers in the township. The parents of 
our subject's wife are Mr. and Mrs. John 
Peterson. Mr. Homestad is a republican in 
his political faith, and is a member of the 
Norwegian Lutheran Church. 



'HARLES A. OSWALD, who is exten- 
sively engaged in farming, on section 
28, of Grove Lake township, is a native of 
I'^ond du Lac, Wisconsin. He was born in 
1859, and is the son of Tracy and Mary 
Oswald, who were (ierinan by birth. They 
came to America in 1852, settling in Wiscon- 
sin, where they engaged in farm pursuits in 
an extensive manner. It is supposed the 
father lost his life in the great Chicago 
fire of 1872. Mrs. Oswald operated the farm 
for three years after her husbaiurs disa]ii)ear- 
ance. and then sold and located near Osh- 
kosh, remaining there two years, and from 
there came to Olmsted county, Minnesota, 
where the family live<l one year. In 1867 
they moved to Pope county, settling in 
Grove Lake township, on section 18, pur- 
chasing 16(» acres of land. ilrs. Oswald 
died there in 1881, leaving a family of four 
children — Sophia (^now Mrs. Movous, of Da- 



296 



rOPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



kota), Charles A., Herman and Lena (now 
Mrs. Schwallen, of Wisconsin). The parents 
were members of tlie Lutheran Church. 

Charles A., our subject, was reared to 
farm life, and receiv'ed a good education, 
remaining at home until twenty-one years of 
age. At that date, with liis brother Her- 
man, he started out threshing with a steam 
tliresher, wliicii business they have since 
followed. 

They bought IGo acres of land, whei-e they 
now live, in 1878. They have fine l)uildings 
and good improvements, generally. They 
also have town property in Florida at St. 
Andrew's Bay. Our subject was married in 
1SS3 to Miss Cora ilallory, a native of 
AViseonsin, and the daughter of Marcus S. 
and Laui'a E. Mallory. In his political be- 
lief Mr. Oswald is independent, reserving 
the right to vote for the best of all part}^ 
candidates. He belongs to the Lutheran 
Church. 

The brothel's are both recognized as men 
of sterling worth. They ai-e capable and 
intelligent business men, of the strictest 
integrity, and are recognized as among the 
most substantial citizens of the county. 

^HJl^HOMAS PETERSON, a resident of sec- 
^MJ tion 2:1 Chippewa Falls township, 
was born in ^' or way in 1838, the son of Peter 
and Christena (Olson) Hanson, natives of 
the same countrv. The father was enraged 
in farming on a few acres of land, and also 
dealt in stock. By trade he was a tailor and 
also a musician of some note. In 186-1 his 
wife died, and he came to America, remain- 
ing in (Toodhue county, Minnesota, until tlie 
time of his death. He had a famil\' of six 
children, live of whom ai-e still living — 
Tlioiiias, Carrie (now Mrs. Wolstr<iiir), Em- 
mie (^now Mrs. Lilequest), Rebecka (lujw Airs. 
iJlequest), and Hans. 



Like the most of his fellow countrymen 
who came to America he was reared on a 
farm, working for others until 1867, when 
he sailed for this countr}', stopping in Good- 
hue county, Minnesota, for one year, and 
then, in 1868, came to Pope county, where 
he claimed as a homestead his ]iresent farm. 
He has since added to his place twenty -seven 
acres of wood land. He built a log house 
13x26, and now has a beautiful grove on his 
premises. He devotes his time to raising 
grain and cattle, in which he is unusually 
successful. 

Mr. Peterson was married in lS6-± to Miss 
Cathrenis Rognalson, a native of Norway, 
and a daughter of Rognal and Helle (Mad- 
son) Simon, who were also natives of Nor- 
way and followed farming. The}' died in 
the land in which thev were born, havino- 
rearetl a family of nine cliildren, four now 
living — Andrew, Salmon, Valentine, and 
Mrs. Peterson. The parents and family 
were all devoted members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

Mr. Peterson, the subject of which we 
write, lost a son in Norway. In politics he 
is a firm republican, and in his religion is a 
member of the Lutheran Church. He has 
held the office of trustee for three years in 
the same. He has served his townshij) as 
supervisor and assessor, and is rated as one 
of the leading citizens of the community in 
which he lives. 



-«•- 



RNST O. WOLLAN, a resident of sec. 
tion 9, AVhite Bear Lake township, 
is one of the best representatives of that 
hardy class of pidueers, wIki in early days, 
opened up farms and began improvements in 
Pope county. Times were hard in those 
days, markets were far away, and many 
wei-e the tlisadvantages which had to be en- 
countered ; but those of the old pioneers 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



297 



wlio stayed here and lived down the liard 
times and disadvantages have been repaid 
for their persevei'anee and inchistrv, and 
most of tiiem, hke ti:e sul)jeet of our present 
sketcli. are in eoinfortable eireumstances. 

Mr. Wollan was hoi'ii in Norway, August 
29, 1830. lie was reared on a farm and I'e- 
mained in liis native land until twenty -seven 
years old, when, in the spring of 1857, he 
came to the United States and located in 
"Winnesheik county. Iowa. Two years later 
he removed to Fillmore county, Minnesota, 
where he secured a farm of eighty acres and 
carried on general farming. In 1868 he sold 
his place, and, with his family, started for 
Pope county, Minnesota, in two covered 
wagons drawn by oxen, and driving ten or 
twelve head of cattle. There were some six- 
teen other wagons in the train, ail headed for 
this region. After his ai'i'ival in Pope county 
Mr. WoUan spent a few days in looking for 
a suitable location and finally homesteaded 
the southeast quarter of section 9, White 
Bear Lake township, and at once began im- 
provements. Tiiat fall he purchased a tim- 
ber claim about two miles farther east, to 
whicii he removed liis family, while a trap]ier 
occupied the shanty whicli had been erecteil 
on the original claim. The trapper offered a 
declarator}' statement on the land at the 
Alexandria land ottice but it was refused, 
on the ground that the land fell within the 
grant limit of Manitoba liailroad. Mr. Wol- 
lan then fought the railroad conii)any,as his 
claim was prior to the grant, and finally won 
the case. In the mean time he had returned 
to the homestead and reniainetl there until 
he had proved up, when he again settled 
upon the timber farm. In 1881 he sold that 
place and returned to the original homestead, 
wliei'e he still lives. 

In eai'ly days .Mi'. Wollan took an active 
and prominent part in all juiblic affairs, but 
ill later years has paid but lilllc attention to 
matters of that nature. He is one of the 



leading members of the Lutheran Church, 
and an exemplary citizen in every way. 

Our subject was married in ISS'J, while in 
Winneshiek county, Iowa, to ]\Iiss Bergita 
Berg, and they have a family of five chil- 
dren as follows — Annie, Barbara, Thomas, 
Mathias and Edward, all of whom are still 
at home. 



"•V* *! 



.-^> 



f DICKSON SMITH, one of the early set- 
tlers of Pope county, came here in 1 868. 
He owns 320 acres of land, which is finely 
improved, and he is now engaged extensively 
in farming and stock-raising on section 26, 
AVestport township. There were only two 
other families in his township, when the 
family settled there, and during early days 
the}' endured -with the other pioneers many 
hardshi])s and privations. 

Wv. Smith was born in Wheeling, West 
Virginia, September 23, 1857. His parents 
are John and Mary (Coulter) Smith, both 
natives of West Virginia, and both are still 
living, the mother being at the home of 
our subject and the husband engaged in min- 
ing in the Black Hills. The latter went to 
that section in 1S77. and has been back 
twice since on visits, the last time in 1888. 
Prior to his going to the Black Hills, he had 
spent most of his time on a farm. He was 
reared and educated in his native State, as 
was also his wife. They lived there about 
three years after their marriage and then re- 
moved to Prescott, Wisconsin, remaining 
there only one winter, and from that point 
went to Hastings, Dakota county, Minnesota, 
where they lived five years. Tlie next move 
was to Sauk Center, Stearns county, where 
tiiey lived for two years, and then reiiuived 
to Pope county. 

Our sui)ject was only one and one-half 
vears old when his [lareiits moved from the 
South to the State of Wisconsin, lie was 



POPF. COUNTY, M/NXESOT.-l. 



educated at Sauk Center and in Pope county. 
He has a good, practical business education. 
In 1877 he commenced to do business for 
himself, and has been very successful. J. 
D. Smith was married June 30, 1887, at Vil- 
lard, to Miss Hattie E. Workman, a native 
of Minnesota, and the daughter of William 
and Hattie Workman, natives of Ohio and 
Pennsylvania. She is tiie \'oungest of a 
family of six children, and followed teach- 
ing from the time she was fifteen years 
old until her marriage. Our subject and hjs 
wife are the parents of one child — Kenneth 
Lewellyn, born, August 11, 1888. He is a 
republican in his ])oliticMl l)elief, and l)eh3ngs 
to the Royal Arcii Mason and the Good Tem- 
plar lodges. He is a gentleman of much in- 
telligence, a capable and reliable business 
man, and is highly respected, both as a 
neighbor and a citizen. 



f 



^fe'HOM THRONSON. The subject of 
yL this biograpliy is a respected and en- 
terprising citizen of Pope county, residing on 
section 19, Langhei township. He is a na- 
tive of Norway, born in Nordre Aurdal. De- 
cember 23, 1849, and is a son of Thron and 
Mary (Olson) Thronson, wlio wei-e also na- 
tives of that kingdom. They all came to the 
United States in 18G8, and settled in Green 
county, Wisconsin, where they remained 
three or four years, and then moved to 
Webster county, Iowa, where thev all, except 
our subject, are living. He was educated in 
his native land, and in Gi'een county, Wis- 
consin. In 1870 he came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, took a homestead, and remained 
four or five years. He then went to Iowa, 
where his parents had preceded him, in 1872. 
He remained in Iowa about one year, and 
then came back to Pope county, and settled 
on section 19, Langhei township, wlieie he 
has since lived. His parents had a family 



of the following children — Neis, Ole, Thom, 
Knute, Mary, Betsy, Anna and Carry. They 
are all living in Iowa. When he first came 
to Pope county he took a homestead on sec- 
tion 28, Langhei township, but did not prove 
up on it. 

Mr. Thronson was married October 6, 
1883, to Miss Betsy Lien, a native of Nor- 
way. She was one of a family of the fol- 
lowing children — Betsy, Inga, Mary, Nels, 
Delia and Oleva. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thronson are the parents of 
two children — Theodore, born April 28, 1884; 
and Carl, born February 20, 1886. 

The subject of this article is a prominent 
man of his township, highly esteemed by all 
who know him. He has held the offices of 
justice of the peace, township clerk, assessor, 
school treasurer, etc. In political matters, 
he affiliates with the republican party, and 
takes an active interest in all public and edu- 
cational affairs. He is in very comfortable 
circumstances„owns a well improved farm 
of 120 acres, with good building improve- 
ments, and is eno-aaed successfullv in a g'en- 
eral farming and stock-raising business. Pie 
also owns an interest in a steam thresher, 
with Messrs. Lien, Nilson and Olson. 



JOSEPH HOGAN, the subject of the pres- 
ent article, is a successful and enter- 
j)rising farmer and stock-raiser, residing on 
section 19, Leven township. He was born in 
County Londonderry, Ireland, on the 8th of 
November, 1845, and is a son of William and 
Jane (Reid) Ilogan. Both of his parents 
were natives of Ireland, and died there. His 
father was a farmer in that country. AVill- 
iam and Jane Ilogan were the parents of a 
family of eleven chddren, whose names were 
as follows — Jane, Nancy, Mary, William, 
Hugh, Andrew (deceased), Margaret, Ben- 
jamin (deceased), Benjamin, Joseph and Eliza. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



2gg 



One cliilil, named lienjamin, died when 
ten months of age. Foui' of the hoys are 
now hving. Eliza mai'iied James Stewart, of 
Ghisgow, Scotland, and died in that city. 
Margaret married Adam Mathews, of Kan- 
sas, and died in ISSo, leaving a family of 
three children. 

Joseph Hogan, whose name heads this arti- 
cle, spent his school days and was reared to 
nianiiood in his native land. He came to 
America in November, 1882, and stopped 
dnring tiie winter in Xew York Citv. In 
tiie spi'iiig of 1SS3 he came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and settled upon his present place, 
on sections S and 19, I.even townshiji. He 
owns a valuable farm of 1(>0 acres, and has 
substantial and comfojtable improvements. 

]\[r. Hogan was married in January, 187fi, 
to Miss Margaret Lindsay, and they are the 
parents of one child, a boy, named William 
J. Mrs. Hogan was born in County Lon- 
donderry, Ireland, and is a daughter of David 
and Eebecca (Weir) Lindsay. . 

In political matters Mr. Hogan in his views 
holds liimself independent of party lines. He 
and his wife are exemplary members of the 
Reformed Presbyterian Chui-ch. 



-i^ 



-^- 



,RS. CARRIE HALVORSON, a resi- 
^jLf^ tlent of section 26, Lake Johanna 
township, is the widow of Lai"s Halvorson. 
Lars Halvorson was boi'n in Sweden. May 
8, 1849, and in his early days attended school 
in his native land. He came to this country 
in 1864, and after landing in Queljec, Canada, 
he went \,o Red Wing, Minnesota, where he 
remained two years. In 1860 he came to 
Po])e county, i[innesota, and took a iiome- 
stead on section 26, Lake Johanna township, 
and built a " log cabin," 18x24 feet in size, 
and commenced improvements. He was 
successfully engaged in fanning and stock- 
raising, and was a man who was highly 



esteemed and beloved by all who knew him. 
He was one of the earliest settlers in the 
townsiiip, and always took an active interest 
in all public and educational matters. He 
was an exemplary member of the Lutheran 
Church, to which he had belonged during 
his entire life. The sad event of his death 
occurred August 17, 1874, and he left his 
estimable wife with ten children to care for — 
Mary, Lewis, Carrie, Andrew and Ilalvor 
(twins), Anna, Ida, Lottie, William and 
Julius. He died in his fiftieth year. 

Mrs. Carrie Halvoi'son's maiden name was 
Carrie Johnson, she being a daughter of John 
and Carrie (Anderson) Johnson. She was 
born in the northern part of Sweden, 
November 3, 1828. She received her educa- 
tion in that country, and was the oldest of 
a family of seven children. She married Mr. 
Halvorson in June, 1846, and still lives on 
the farm, Avhich her sons are running. She 
still remains a widow and is at the advanced 
age of sixty years. Of her children, Carrie 
is married to Mr. Hanson, a farmer of Lake 
Johanna township; ifary is married to Jlr. 
Hix, formerlv a farmei- in Dakota. The 
children were mostly' educated in Pope 
county. Carrie died in Sweden and John 
died in Pope county. They are members of 
the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Halvorson has a 
well-im]iroved farm of 160 acres, and is a 
highly esteemed lady in the community. 



>-^^ 



-*"1 



[ACOB RUNQUIST, a prosperous and 
highly esteemed citizen of Pope coun- 
ty, is a resident of section 20, Blue Mounds 
township. He was born in the northern part 
of Sweden, March 20, 1S48, and is a son of 
Erickson llunquist. 

Jacob Runquist, our subject, remained in 
the land of his birth until he was twenty- 
one and he then started out in life for him- 
self. In 1869 he came to this countrv and 



POPE COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



after landing in New York he went to Indi- 
ana, then to Michigan, where he worked in 
the mines for seven years. He then came to 
Pope count}', Minnesota, and took his pi'esent 
chiim. He lost his mother when he was ten 
years old, and in 1887 his father died, at over 
sixty years of age. Jacob had two brothers 
and one sister — Erick, Charley and Charlotte, 
tiie latter being deceased. 

Mr. Hunquist was marrieti, January 31, 
1872, to Miss Louisa Erickson, who was born 
in tlie northern part of Sweden and came to 
this country in 1869. Her parents settled in 
Maryland. By this union they iiave been 
blessed with the following children — Oscar, 
Victor, Lydia, Treda, Edwin and Eddie. 
Edwin and Etidie are dead. Our sul)ject and 
wife ai'e members of the Lutliei'an Church. 
In politics he is a repuldican and is a repre- 
sentative man of his township. He has an 
extensive farm of 160 acres and has comfort- 
able l)uilding improvements. 



M a RON W. PECK, proprietor of the "bus. 
y.-i\V dray and transfer line, is one of 
tlie most suljstantial and successful business 
men of Glenwood. He is a native of Litch- 
field count}', Connecticut, born August 26, 
1827, and is a son of William and Eraeline 
(Loveland) Peck, who were also natives 
of the same State. The mother died in 
1829, and in 1816 the family moved west- 
ward, and settled in Fond du Lac county, 
Wisconsin, among the early pioneers of 
that r(?gion. The father engaged in farm- 
ing, and, taking an active interest in all mat- 
ters of a ])ub]ic nature, he became a promi- 
nent man in the locality, in which he lived. 
In 186-1 he removed to Llinnesota, but one 
year later returned to Wisconsin and settled 
at Westfield, Marquette county. William 
Peck and wife were the parents of three 
children — Aaron W., Edmund L. and Carrie, 



now Mrs. Hendricks, of Fond du Lac county, 
Wisconsin. 

Aaron W. Peck, whose name heads this 
article, was reared on the home farm, re- 
ceiving the education afforded b\'^ the facili- 
ties of that day. When he arrived at the 
age of twenty -one he began farming on his 
own account in Wisconsin, and remained 
there until the spring of 1865, when he re- 
moved to Olmsted countj^ Minnesota, and 
located in the town of Dover, where he car- 
ried on farming extensively. In the spring 
of 1880 he removed to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, and settled upon a farm in Glenwood 
township, about five miles southeast of the 
county seat. In 1882 he removed to the vil- 
lage and he began his present business, pur- 
chasing a handsome "bus, and complete out- 
fit, which is a credit to the ])lace, and not 
equaled by any point on this line of rail- 
road. 

Mr. Peck was married December 31, 1856, 
to Miss Cordelia Baldwin, a native of the 
town of Madison, New Haven county, Con- 
necticut, and a daughter of Howard and Car- 
oline (McDonald) Baldwin. Her parents 
were natives of Watertown, Connecticut, 
and her father was a marble manufactui-er. 
In 1851 the family removed to AVaupaca 
county, Wisconsin, settling in the town of 
Lind, but three years afterward they located 
in Eden townshijj. Fond du Lac county, in 
the same State. Later they removed to Bar- 
aboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin, where the 
father died in 1885, and the mothei' in 1884. 
Howard Baklwin and wife were the parents 
of ten children, seven of whom are still liv- 
ing, as follows — Dorotha C, now Mrs Britt, 
of Baraboo, Wisconsin; Truman IL, of Fond 
du Lac, Wisconsin; Martha A., now Mrs. Big 
ley, of tlie same city; Mrs. Cordelia Peck; 
Frederick, of Minneapolis; Nancy, now Mrs. 
Faulkner, of Moundville, Wisconsin ; and 
Reuben, of Baraboo, AVisconsin. 

Mr. and Mrs. Peck have a famil}' of three 



POPE COUNTY, MIKXESOTA. 



301 



cliil(li-en living. Tliey are as follows — Wal- 
ter E., who married Jose])liine Griffin, of 
Glenwooil, and tlie}' have one cliild, Eugene 
E.; Ida. wlio married Mr. "Wancn. of Glen- 
wood, and is the motlier of one eiiild, Edna 
May; and Edgar, who is still single. 

Mr. Peck is a repuhliean in political mat- 
ters, ^fi's. Peck is a member of the Baptist 
church, and an active woi'kei- in the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. 

— ■*— J^^--»— ^ 

T^ NUTE VRALSON.oneof the earliest 
_X.-,\^ settlers of (iilchrist township, is a 
native of Norway, boi'u at Telemarken, Janu- 
ary 2, 1S35. He remained in his native 
land, engaged in farming until 1866, when 
he came to Quebec, Canada. Coming from 
there to Fillmore county, Minnesota, he 
there rented a farm, but unfortunately, 
througli the failure of crops, within a few 
3'ears, he lost all he had. What was still 
more grevious, his wife and two children 
died soon after settling in this countiy After 
remaining a year or two in Fillmore counter, 
he started for Pope countv, Minnesota, with 
an ox team, covei'ed wagon, two cows and 
ten dollars in money. For a time after com- 
ing lici'e he remained with his fellow counti'V- 
men until lie had an o])portunity to trade his 
wagon foi- a timlicr lot. On tliis he built a 
log house and lived with his family. 8oon 
after he took up a piece of radi-oad land, on 
which he engaged in farming. As fast as he 
was able he bought adjoining land, and he is 
now one of the most extensive farmers in his 
township, owning some 445 acres of land. 
Adjoming this farm, his oldest son, Ole, has 
a farm of 2.55 acres, with comfortable im- 
provements. Our subject is a man of the 
greatest integrity and honor, and is highly 
esteemed in tiie community where he lives. 
He has a family of three children — Ole K., 
Anthonv and Isabella. 



Oi.K K. Wilson is the oldest son of the 
above named gentlenum, and is a resident of 
section 20, Gilchrist township. He is a na- 
tive of Norway, born October 28, 1864, and 
has always made his home with his parents. 
When nineteen years of age he entered the 
State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minne- 
sota, where he remained some three years. 
He then entered the State University at Min- 
neapolis, renuiining there two years. He 
has an extensive farm of 255 acres, and there 
carries on diversified fai'ming. Mr. Wilson 
was a candidate for the republican nomina- 
tion to the State Legislature, and received 
substantial support from the locality in which 
be lived. He is an intelligent and well posted 
man on public matters, and is regarded as 
one of the most enterpi-ising citizens in the 
southern part of the county. 

©LE IRGENS, a successful and highly 
esteemed hardware merchant of Far- 
well, is an American by birth. He was born 
in Mower count}', Minnesota, July 3, 1862, 
and is a son of H. M. F. and Dena (Calmey- 
er) Irgens. who are natives of Norway. 
When our subject was about seven years old 
his pai'onts moved to Pope county, ifinne- 
sota. and took a lu^mestead in Nora town- 
ship. They were among the earliest settlers 
in that I'egion. there being but thi'ee other 
inhabitants in that section of the country. 
Mr. Irgens lived on the homestead with his 
parents until 1SS4, when he bougiit a farm 
in Pen Wade township. He remained on 
his claim until 1886, when he sold his farm 
and engaged in the hardware business in 
])ai-tnersiiip with Max Brothers, starting the 
first hardware store in Farwell village. The 
firm name still stands as Irgens <fe Max 
Brothers. They carry a full line of hard- 
ware and do a successful business. 
The subject of this biogiaphy was married 



302 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



in Blue Mounds tow nsliip, Dane county, "Wis- 
consin, January 17, ISSi, to Miss Olina Sko- 
gen, a daughter of Ciiristian and Maret 
(Lee) SUogen, and they have been blessed 
with the following children — Arthur, Mar- 
tin and Lewis. The father of our subject 
helped hiui to a slight extent, when he 
started for himself, but, aside from this, Mr. 
Irgens has, by his own industrious exertions, 
made all he possesses. Our subject is a 
thorough business man, and is classed among 
the most ])rominent and capable merchants 
of Farwell. lie has held the position of 
town clerk foi' tliree years, and at present is 
jKJstnuister at Farwell. IMr. Irgens is in 
good circumstances financially, and owns the 
finest residence dwelling in the village in 
Avhich he lives. 



AMUEL W. FREDERICK, who lives on 
section 12 of Westport township, 
came to Pope county in 1879. At first he 
])urchased 100 acres of land, to wliich he 
afterward added an equal amount, making 
him a farm of 320 acres, all well improved 
and highly cultivated. He raises gTain and 
stock with much success. Mr. Frederick 
has been engaged in threshing for thirteen 
seasons, about half the time by horse power 
and the remainder of the time b3^ steam 
power. lie is a native of Orange county, 
New "i'ork, born February 15, 1853. lie is 
a son of Jacob and Jlary (Smith) Frederick, 
both of whom are living in Stearns county, 
Minnesota. The following is a list of their 
children that grew to manliood and woman- 
hood — Harriett (now Mrs. Hoffman), Samuel 
W., Charles, Ida (now Mrs. Luke, residing 
in Stearns county), Jacob, Edward, Katie, 
Clara, Monroe and Albert. Eugene died, at 
the age of IS years, in Stearns county, Min- 
nesota. 

Our subject spent his early days in Scott 



count}^ Minnesota, and a pai-t of the time 
in Wright county. He quit school when 
about thirteen years old, and is what we 
may justly stvle a self-made man. He was 
married, March 19, 1880, to Maggie Gray, 
who \vasborn in Canada, and there received 
her education. She moved to Sauk Center, 
Minnesota, with her parents, James and 
Katie Graj'. She was the sixth of the 'fol- 
lowing family — Alice, George, "William, 
Jennie, John, James, Maggie, Lewis. Katie, 
and Charles. 

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick are the parents of 
five children — "Wesley, Asher, Lewis, Eugene 
Ray and Bei'yl, all of whom are still at 
home. 

In his politics Mr. Frederick is a democrat, 
and has been one ever since lie reached a 
voter's age. In 1887 he was elected as clerk 
of "Westport township, and is still holding 
that office, and for three years held the 
office of supervistjr. He has always been an 
active man in public affairs, and is one of 
the best posted and most capable and intelli- 
gent business men in the county. A man of 
the strictest integrity, he stands high as a 
citizen in the communitv in which he lives. 




E3 EV. PETER REQUE. The subject of 
-^ this brief sketch was the first Luth- 
eran pastor stationed within the limits of Pope 
county, and was instrumental in organiz- 
ing the Inherred Nora and Scandia Lutheran 
Church, at "Wiiite Bear Lake, He was a 
native of Norway, and after adopting the 
ministry as a calling, Avas ordained in Aug- 
gust, 1869, at Koshkonong, "Wisconsin. The 
same fall he came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, and remainetl here until the time of his 
death, in the fall of 1879. He was a man of 
uprigiit character, a sincere Christian and an 
excellent scholar. He was held in high 
esteem, and his death was widely mourned. 



POPE COUNTY. MrNXESOTA 



303 



J^NDREW AVOK, one of tlic most iu- 
Ar'\L. telligeiit and successful citizens of tiie 
soutli western part of Pope county, is a resi- 
dent of section 6, Langliei township. He is 
a native of Norway, born in the southern 
part, at Walders, January 28, 1834, and is a 
son of Andrew and Carrie (Nilson) Avok, 
who wore also natives of tliat kingdom. 
The father died in Norway, in 1852, and the 
same year our subject came to America, and, 
after hinding in Quebec, Canada, wiiere he 
remained for six weeks, he went to Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin, where he worked for two 
years for a railroad compan}\ He then 
went to Madison, "Wisconsin, where he re- 
mained for a short time, and then went to 
Dane county, Wisconsin, and bought eighty 
acres of land, on whicii lie remained until 
1872. He tiiencame to Pope; county, Minne- 
sota, an<l has remained here ever since. Mr. 
Avok receiveil a good practical education in 
his native land, and has followed farming 
as an occupation all liis life. He is one of 
five children — Nels. Andrew, Nels .1., Knute 
and Anna. Nels J. died in Dakota, Novem- 
ber 2, 1887. The mother came to this coun- 
try in 1S*>1, and settled in Dane county. 
Wisconsin, where she remained until the 
time of her death in 188.5, at the age of 
eighty-one years. 

Mr. Avok was married, March 15, 1855, 
to iliss ilary Anderson, a native of Norway ; 
she was brought to this country when three 
years old, her people settling in Dane county, 
Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. .Vvok have been 
blessed with the following child I'cn — Carrie, 
Mena, Mary. Anna, P>ots\% Andrew, Albert, 
Lena and Josephine. Carrie is mai'ried to 
Mr. Hanson, a farmer in Walden township. 
.\nna is married to Mr. Lolire, a fai'Uier in 
i.angliei township. Mary is mariied to Mr. 
Nelson of Langliei township. 

Our suliject is a representative man of his 
townshi|), and has iieki tiie oltlces of school 
clerk, supervisor, etc., and has been post- 



master since 1883 at Langliei. He drew up 
the petition to organize the school district. 
He and his family are members of the 
Lutheran Church, of which he is deacon. He 
has a well imjiroved farm of -100 acres under 
good cultivation, neat buildings, etc., and is 
engaged, extensively, in general farming and 
stock-raising. Li political matters he has 
been generall\' a republican, although he is 
independent of party lines to a large extent. 



Kl^^ARS INGEBRIGTSEN, a farmer living 
1^^ on section 13, of Chippewa Falls 
township, was born in Norway, on the 8th 
day of February, 18-19. He is the son of 
Tngebrigt and Jori (Hermundsen) Inge- 
biigtsen, also of Norway. The father was 
a carpenter liy traiie, and followed contract- 
inti' and building as long as he lived. He 
passed from his earthly labors in 1850, and 
his wife came to America in 18*14. stf)])ping 
in (ioodhuc county, ^Tinnesota, at the town 
of Holden. She is now living with her 
children at Chippewa Falls. The family 
were faithful ineiiibers of the I>utlieran 
Church. The family consisted of two chil- 
dren, Lars and Jorond, now Mrs. Danielson, 
now living in Chippewa Falls township. 

Lars was brought up in town, and attended 
schools until he was fifteen years of age; 
then, bidding farewell to the scenes of his 
childhood, he came to America, settling in 
Goodhue county, Minnesota, in 1S04. For 
three years he worked out by the month and 
day. In 1867 he came to Pojie county, 
where his mother took a homestead of 160 
acres where her son, the subject of this 
sketch, now lives. They lirst provided 
themselves with a dug-out, in which they 
lived tiie lirst winter in a very comfortable 
manner. 

The industrious son, Lars, for sev('ral 
years would do his haying up early, and then 



304 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



go to a point below St. Paul and do harvest- 
ing work, being away during August, Sep- 
tember and October, after which he would 
return home and make the necessary prep- 
arations for the long, cold winter period 
inevitable in this extreme northern climate. 
Before leaving Goodhue county he pur- 
chased a yoke of oxen and a ligiit '"demo- 
crat" wagon, also a cow and calf. The first 
spring afterward he was com])elled to sell 
the cattle to get bread and seed grain. The 
following spring another calf was born, 
wiiich, together with the first, gave him a 
yoke of young oxen. For three years this 
faithful man lived without a team, and got 
along the best he could. 

In 1876 he built a log house 16x16 feet, 
and now owns 380 acres of well-improved 
land ; he is a successful grower of horses, 
cattle and grain. He is a republican in pol- 
itics, and both he and his wife belong to the 
Lutheran Church. He has often been hon- 
ored b\' election to the various township 
offices, including that of town clerk and 
school clerk. He was married to Miss 
Helene Kolstad, in 1882, by which union 
three children have been born — Engebert, 
George and Martha. 



-«-J 



JplvANS N. HANSEN, a pro.sperous and 
JL-^'iL highly esteemed citizen of liolling 
Fork townsiiii), is a I'esident of section W. 
His native eounti-y is Norway, born seven 
miles from Christiania, November 25, 1826, 
and is a son of Nels and Ellen Mary (Wennik) 
Hanson, who were also natives of that king- 
dom. At the age of seventeen, he com- 
menced life for himself by clerking in a 
grocery and dry goods store, at which he 
worked three years. He then learned the 
carpenter's trade, at which he was engaged 
for about five years. He then gained the 
position of foreman in an iron foundry, at 



which he was employed for fourteen years. 
Mr. Hansen then set up a sho]) for himself, and 
he laid in a full stock of merchandise which 
he ran for four years, when he was burned 
out, with but a slight insurance. In 1872 he 
came to the United States and stopped in 
Benson, Minnesota, after staj' ing there a few 
days, he went to Chippewa Falls, Minnesota, 
and lived with his son, Nels, for one year, when 
he took a homestead in Pope county, ilinne- 
sota, on section 2, Polling Fork township. 
There he i-emained for ten years, when he sold 
and bought a farm in Barsness township, on 
section 26, where he remained for four years. 
He then again sold out and bought a farm on 
section 14, Polling Fork township, where he 
has since remained. Our subject is a rep- 
resentative man of his township. He has 
held the office of school director, and in 
political matters he usually affiliates with the 
democratic party, although to a large extent 
he is inde]iendent in his political views. 

Mr. Hansen was married to Jliss Ingeburg 
Mary Linset, Septembei" 20, 1849, and they 
have had the following children — Nels A., 
Johan E., Andreas H.. Michael Y., Emily H., 
Anna C, Andreas H. and Herman J. All 
are living, except Andreas IL, Helena A. 
and Nels A. Nels was married to Berdena 
Holverson. Johan E. is married to Lena 
Peterson and Helena A. was married to 
Bernhard Bergendahl. Anna C. is married 
to Ed Tharaldson. 



-«« 



RS. EMMA BJORK, formerly Miss 
^SS^^ Emma Thompson, is a native of 
Norway, born in the eastern part of that 
kingdom, October 21, 1846, and is a daughter 
of Engebret and Olena (Olson) Thompson, 
wild were also natives of Noi'way. She 
lived in her native land until 1862, when she 
came with her parents to the United States, 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



305 



and they are now living with their son, E. 
Tiioiiipson, in Blue ^roimils township. There 
were three ciiiidren in her ])arents' famil}' — 
Thomas, Eniina. Anna and Ei-ick. Our sub- 
ject was educated in the land of iier birth 
and was fourteen years old wiien slie came 
to this country. They landed in Quebec and 
then went to Janesville, Wisconsin, via 
Chicago. Tliey soon went to Madison, Wis- 
consin, and after being in that State for 
about six years the\' came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, where they are at present resid- 
ing. 

Our subject was married to her first hus- 
band, Frederick Ciialemburg, in December, 
1S72. He was a native of Sweden, where he 
was educated, and he came to tliis country 
in 1867. He first went to Marquette, Mich- 
igan, where he remained two years, then 
moved to Pope county, Minnesota. He was 
one of the very first settlers in the townshi]), 
and soon after coming here took a homestead 
on section IS, Blue Mounds townsliip. He 
was a man who took an active interest in all 
local alTaii*s, and held at different times the 
following offices — school clerk, road over- 
seer and assessor. During the eai-ly part of 
his life he was a miner, but later took the 
occui)ation of farming, which he followed the 
rest of his life. His sad death occurred 
August 21, ISSl. They had the following 
children — !Maria, Edwin, Olevan, Josephina 
and Magnes. All are deceased except 
Josephine and Edwin. 

Mis. Bjork was married to iier second hus- 
band, Carl Bjork, in the j'ear 1884. He was 
a native of Sweden, aiiil was always success- 
fullv enjiaji'ed in farminjj. Bv this union 
they have been blessed with the following 
children — Enock, Alfred and Emnui. Mrs. 
Bjoik is a lady well and favorai)ly known 
tiirougiiout her section of the county, and is 
higiily esteemed by all wjio know liei'. She 
is an exemplary member of the Lutheran 
Cimrch. 



^M NDREW ERICKSON, is a i)rominent 
JJ^'^^L. farmer of Pope county, residing on 
section 20, Barsness township. He is the 
son of Erick IMartinson and Mary Anderson, 
and was born near Christian ia, Norway, 
February 10, 1850. He lived with his par- 
ents until he was twenty-three j^ears of age, 
and then he, with his parents, moved to 
America, settling in Dane county, "Wiscon- 
sin. After his residing there for three or 
four j'ears, he settled in Renville county, 
Minnesota, where he took up a homestead. 

He remained there for five years, when he 
came to Pope county and located in the town 
of Barsness. He bought 160 acres of land 
on section 20, where he is at present resid- 
ing. He is engaged in general farming and 
stock-raising, and also runs a threshing 
machine. He has 160 acres under a good 
state of cultivation, and is in very comforta- 
ble circumstances. 

Our subject was mari'ied in Iowa county, 
Wisconsin, in 1873, to Christina Erickson, a 
dauiihter of Erick aiul ^Fai'v Hanson. Their 
union has been blessed with seven children — 
Emma Matikia, Hilda Josephene, Emil, 
Alma, Albert Benjamin, Ellen Mary, and 
Johnny Martin. 

Mr. Erickson has always taken an active 
part in public matters, and has been honored 
with numerous positions in his township — 
supervisor, township clerk, while in Renville 
county; school clerk, in Barsness township, 
etc. He is a member of the Norwegian 
Lutheran Church, and is a republican in 
political matters. 

— -->-'S€^' • < ♦• • 

S)ER1ST LAFLURE, one of the most in- 
telligent aiul influential citizens of the 
southwestern part of Pope county, and an 
ex-rninn soldier, is a resident of section 11, 
Hoff township. He was born in Canada, 
April 27, 1840, and is a sou ^of Tuffield La- 



3o6 



POPI-: COUXTY, MINNESOTA. 



flure. His parents were both natives of the 
same Dominion, and his father followed farm- 
ing the greater part of his life. 

AVliile our subject was still young his 
parents removed with their family to Frank- 
lin county, Vermont, where he grew to man- 
hood, and received his education, attending 
school alternately with working on the farm. 
On the 9th of March, 1861, he was married 
to Miss Zoah Peno, a native of Franklin 
county, Vermont. On the 30th of May, 1862, 
as the Civil War was then in progress, he 
enlisted in the Ninth Vermont Volunteer 
Infantry, and served until the close of the 
war. He participated in the battle of Har- 
per's Ferry, where he was taken prisoner and 
held for some three months. At the expira- 
tion of that time he was exchanged and again 
went to the front. He participated in the 
buttles at Fair Oaks, and various operations 
and battles in Virginia, besides a great many 
skirmishes throughout Virginia and North 
Carolina. He was mustered out June li, 
1865, and settled down to farming in Ver- 
mont, remaining there for about eighteen 
montlis. He tlien came to Minnesota and 
located upon alarm in Wright county, where, 
for twelve years, he carried on stock-raising 
and general farming. At tiie expiration of 
that time, in 1880, he came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and took a liomestead of 160 acres 
on section 26, Hoff townsliip, where he still 
lives. He now owns a valuable farm of 280 
acres, and devotes his attention to grain and 
stock-raising. Mr. Laflure has made all of 
the improvements himself and has brought his 
place to a higli state of cultivation. He has 
always taken an active and prominent part 
in all public and educational matters, and has, 
at various times, filleil school district and 
township offices. In political matters he is 
a rejndjlican, and in religion a member of the 
Catholic church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Laflure are tiie parents of 
eleven children — Katie, Francis, Emery, 



Alfred, Frederick, Sarah, Anna, Delia, 
Charles, Willie and Amelia. Katie married 
Michael McDonough, and they reside in St. 
Paul. Francis married Frank Tillison. of 
Red Wing, Minnesota. 



IMON N. PETERSON, a prosperous 
and highly esteemed citizen of Gilchrist 
township, is a resident of section 33. He 
was ])orn in Norway, June 11, 1S3S, and 
remained in liis native land until he was 
twenty-eight years of age. During this time 
he was engaged in the fisheries and followed 
the life of a seaman. On the lith of 
April, 1866, he left his home in a sailing ves- 
sel for Quebec, and after landing, he came 
direct to Carver county, Minnesota, where 
he remained through the summer of 1867. 
Tlien Mr. Peterson, in company with othei's, 
started on foot for Pope county, Minnesota, 
coming by way of Meeker and Kandiyohi 
counties. After arriving in Pope count v, 
and looking over tlie land for a day or two, 
our subject took a homestead of 155 acres 
on section 28, Gilchrist township, aiul then 
went to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he en- 
tered his land, and then returned to Carver 
county. There Mr. Peterson remained until 
the middle of December, Avhen in company 
with Mr. Larson, he started for his claim in 
Pope county. It being impossible to build 
at that time of the year, they constructed a 
" dug-out," and lived there through the win- 
ter. In the spring he commenced improve- 
ments, having at one time to work a week 
to paj' for having one acre broken. After 
o'etting- four acres broken he went to the 
southern i)art of tiie State, where he worked 
two or three months at grubbing. At this 
work lie could make liut forty cents a day 
and liad to pay his own iioard. He tiien 
came i)ack to ins claim, and has since re- 
mained. Our subject is in very comfortable 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



307 



circumstances, lias a farm of 200 acres with 
ninety acres under cultivation and eleven 
acres of dense timber. lie has a good house, 
with other buildings, and also a farm of 200 
acres in Swift county, four miles from his 
residence. On this second farm he has 160 
acres under cultivation, with good building 
improvements, thirt\' head of cattle and 
thirteen horses, etc. 

Our subject was married July 29, 1863, to 
Hiss Jonnette Johnson and they have been 
blessed with the following children — Sophia 
Amelia, John Oli, Sarah Helena, deceased; 
Peter Norman, Sarah Helena, Simon Johan, 
Josephine Nikolena, Halmer H., Job Alfred 
and .M(jody Christian. 

/^^USTAF ERICKSON, a prosperous and 
x^i highlj' esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, is a resident of section 17, Blue 
Mounds township. He is a native of Swe- 
den, born July 2:^, 1839, and is a son of Erick 
and Mar}' (Caulson) Anderson, who are also 
natives of that kingdom. In the latter part 
of the father's life he was a miner, and his 
earh' life was devoted to farming. Our sub- 
ject was one of nine children, two of whom 
are deceased. 

Gustaf received his education in his native 
land, and in 1869 came to the United States 
and remained eight years in the mines in ]\[ich- 
igan. as " i)laster." He then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and settled on his pres- 
ent farm of 338 acres, and is now engaged 
in general fai'miu"- and stock-raising;. Wn is 
a num of the highest honor and mtegrity. 
In political matters liealHliates with the re- 
publican party. 

Mr. Erickson was united in marriage, De- 
cemlicr IS, 1872, to Miss Johanna Erickson. 
and the}' were blessed with the following 
children — John, Ellen, Mary, Louisa and 



Agusta — the last dying in August, 1888, and 
was buried in Blue Mounds township. The 
first wife of Mr. Erickson died eight years 
after their marriage and was buried in Blue 
Mounds township. Our subject was married 
to Miss Louisa Erickson in the spring of 1881, 
and they have five children — Emma, Beadv, 
Axel, Sophia and Emily. His second wife 
was born in Sweden, and came with her 
parents to the United States in 1881. Of the 
children. Beady, Axel, Sophia and Emily are 
dead. The subject of this sketch and his 
family are exem])lary members of the Luth- 
eran Chui'ch, of which organization he has 
been deacon. 



-«- 



«^^ 



/^^UNNUF THOMPSON. The subject of 
\l^ this sketch, is a i)rominent and highly 
esteemeil farmer, residing on section in, 
Langhei township. He was boi-n in Nor- 
way, Decembei- 25, 1831, and is a son of 
Gunnuf and Julia (Ilellickson) Thompson, 
who were also natives of the same kingdom. 
The parents are now dead, the mother dying 
first. The father was a farmer through life. 
The parents had the following children — 
Thomas, Hellick, Ole, Gunnuf, Brinnel, Ole, 
John, Estie and Augusta. Ole and Brinnel 
are deceased. 

Our subject received his education in his 
native land, and from the age of sixteen to 
twenty-one years he worked on the home fai-m. 
He came to America in the year 1852, and 
after landing in Quebec, Canada, he came to 
Dane county, Wisconsin, where lie remained 
a few weeks. He then went to Grand Har- 
bor, Michigan, where he engaged in the 
lumber business for four years, when he 
went to Winneshiek county. Iowa, lie lived 
there three 3'ear.s, occupied in the vocation 
of farming, after which he journe^-ed to 
Fillmore county, Minnesota. Ue remained 



3<)8 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



in that county for five years and then came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a 
homestead of 160 acres on section 10, 
Langhei township, wliere lie has since lived, 
lie was one of the earhest settlers in the 
townshij), havinji- settled tiiere in 1869. lie 
lias a brother living in Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, and is married. Augusta, who 
came over the same time as our subject, 
is married to Mr. Olson and also lives in Fill- 
more county. 

Mr. Thom])son was married in 1860, to 
Miss Anna Olson, a native of Norway, and 
they have been blessed with the following- 
children — Ellen. Julia, Anna and Gunder. 
Ellen is married to Mr. Poler, and is living 
in Washington Territory. Mrs. Thompson 
came to this country in 1856. Her parents, 
who are now dead, were exemjilary mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church. Our subject 
is a man of strict integrit}^ and is highly 
esteemed by all who know him. He has 
held the offices of constable and other local 
positions at various times. Mrs. Thompson 
died July 7, 1873, and was buried in Langhei 
township. She was a woman of high char- 
acter. 



'^H^HOMAS SCHWIEGER, postmaster at 
uIL' CTlenwood, is one of the most prom- 
inent democrats in the county, and one of 
the leading business men of the county seat. 
He is a native of Canada, born November 9, 
1846, and is a son of William A. and Betsy 
(James) Schwieger, natives of Germany and 
England, respectively. His parents came to 
Canada in early life, and were married there. 
His father was a soldier in the War of 1812, 
and in the land of his adoption he followed 
contracting and building until the time of 
his death, in 1853. AVilliam A. Schwieger 
was the father of eight chddren, five of whom 



are now living — Henry. David, Thomas, 
William and Ellen. 

Thomas Schwieger, the subject of the pres- 
ent article, spent his early boyhood in his 
native land, attending school. In 1857 he 
was brought to Minnesota, and at the age of 
fifteen \'ears he began learning the harness 
maker's trade at Red Wing, Minnesota, serv- 
ing an apprenticeship of three years. He 
then, for three years, followed his trade at 
Bell Creek, Goodhue county. At the ex- 
piration of that time he returned to Canada 
aiul remained there until the followingspring, 
of 1872, when he again went to Bell Creek, 
Minnesota, and was married to ]\Iiss Mary 
Kane. She was a daughter of John and 
Nanc}' Kane, natives of Ii-eland, her father 
at that time being a farmer in Goodhue 
county. After this event Mr. Schwieger 
continued harnessmaking at Red Wing until 
1879, when he sold out and removed to (41en- 
wood. Pope county. Here he established 
himself in the harness business, and carried 
it on for six \'ears. In 1SS5 he received the 
appointment from President Cleveland as 
postmaster of Glenwood, and still retains the 
office. His management of the office has 
been careful and efficient, and the manage- 
ment here will compare favorably with any 
office in this part of the State. This is sa}'- 
ing a good deal for the office, when it is re- 
membered that this is a republican "strong- 
hold," and that it is hardly possible for a 
democratic official, however efficient, to suit 
the ideas of a republican patron, and 'vice 
versa, in these days of " partisan warfare." 

Mr. Schwieger has considerable property 
interests in the village, having purchased the 
dv.'elling and its two accompan^'ing lots 
where he lives, and erected the brick build- 
ing in which the postoffice is located. 

Mr. and Mrs. Schwieger are the parents of 
five children, as follows — Florence, Orrin, 
Ralph, Fannie and Charles. The family are 
members of the Episcopalian Church. 



rorr. county, mixxesota. 



309 



^TaMES E. stalker settled in Grove 






Lake township, Xovenil)er, IStiS, fii-st 
locating on section 7, which is now inchided 
within the limits of the town of Glenwood. 
There he honiestoadcd a quarter section of 
land, made valuable improvements on the 
same and proved up. He afterward settled 
on his present fai'in, on section 32, of West- 
port township, and |nircliased eighty acres, 
adding thereto, until his place now contains 
280 acres His son, William, has 184 acres 
in the same township as his father. The 
father's farm is a fine one, and he carries on 
a paying business in grain and stock-growing. 

Mr. Stalker was born. May 20, 1842, in 
Lewis county, Xew York, but the famih'^ 
soon moved to Madison county. His parents 
were James and Annie (Ciiristie) Stalker, 
natives of Scotland. Tiiey came to the 
United States in 1835, and remained in New 
York until 1866, when tiiey removed to Min- 
nesota. The father was a Ihitisii soldier for 
twenty-one years in the Sevcnty-lirst Higli- 
landers. By trade he was a mason, and he 
followed it, after he left the army until the 
time of his death, in 1866, at Minneapolis. lie 
was advanced to the ripe oldage of sixty-nine 
years. The mother died at the age of eightv- 
live years, in 1877. Tiiis worthy couple 
were married in Edinburg, Scotland, and 
passed an eventful career. Tiiey had a fam- 
ily of eighteen children, seven growing to full 
manhood and womanhood ; the remainder 
died in their infancy. Our subject, Mr. 
Stalker, and his brother John were the only 
sons who grew to man's estate. The other 
children wiio grew up were — Nancy, Jane, 
.Mai-garet, Jenette, Mary. Jlargaret, Jane 
and Jenette are now deceased. 

Oui- sniiject spent hisyoutliful schooldays 
in Madison county, New York, leaving there 
at the age of fourteen, and when eigiiteen 
years old enlisted, August 0, 1862. in tiie 
One-IIundred-and-Fourteenth New York In- 
fantry. His captain was Henry E. Morse, 



a brave soldier. Among other enmiirenients, 
he took i)art in Irish Bend, in Louisiana ; 
White Store Plains; the siege of Tort Hud- 
son, lasting for forty-one da^'s; also the 
battle of Sabine Crossroads, Pleasant Hill, 
Fort Durussey, Winchester, Cedar Creek, 
and man}' heated skirmishes, but little less 
than regulai- battles. During all these years 
of camp life he was not once reported fi'om 
tiie hospital. He did, however, impaii' the 
sight of his eyes while in the service of his 
country, so that one is totally blind and the 
sight of the other injured, but during all his 
service remained on duty. 

Mr. Stalker was married, Deceml)er 25, 
1865, to Miss Mai'ietta Norton, a native of 
Madison county. New York. She was the 
daughter of William Norton, a farmer. 'Mi's. 
Stalker was the oldest of hei' parents' cliil- 
dren, and she died in March, 1869. She 
was a faithful member of the Methodist 
Church, and left her Christian life and ex- 
ample as a legacy to her two motherless 
children — William and Marietta, both of 
whom are now living. Our subject nuirried 
for his second wife Miss Anna Alexander. 
Their marriage took place September 17, 
1876. The second wife was born in Chicago, 
and w'as educated in Minneapolis, JMinnesota, 
being a graduate of the High School of that 
city. Both husband and wife belong to the 
Jlethodist Episcopal Church. Their children, 
seven in number, are — William, ilarietta, 
^Fargaret, Anna, Alexander, John and La- 
vantia, all of whom are still unmarried. 

Mr. Stalker is a staunch republican, and 
has held several local offices, including that 
uf justice of the peace and postmaster. He 
is ever alive to the best interests of the com- 
munity in which he lives. He is a meml)er 
of the Poyal Arch Masonic Lodge, and is 
one of four men belonging to this order 
within the township in which he lives. He 
is worth}' master of the \'illai'd A., F. and 
A. M. Lodge. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



, J^^lLE J. SANDVIG, the present county 
<iSi/ audi tor, although a young man in 
years, is 3'et the oldest settler of the county 
who resides in Glenwood. Having been 
brought to the count}' by his parents when 
a child, he has spent the most of his life here, 
and his upright character, integi'ity and 
careful and intelligent manner of carrying 
on the business entrusted to his care, have 
made him friends and supporters wherever 
his acquaintance extends. 

Mr. Sandvig is a native of Dane county, 
"Wisconsin, born January 15, 1857, and is ason 
of John Johnson and Ingeborg (Sanderson) 
Sand vig, who were natives of Xorway. A full 
biography of his father and the family will be 
found in another department of this Albtjm, so 
it is unnecessary to refer to them at length in 
this connection. The family had located in 
Dane county, Wisconsin, in 1848, and were 
therefore among the earliest pioneers of that 
reeion. In 1861 thev sold their interest 
there and removed to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, settling near Lake Johanna. Thefather 
is still living in this county, a resident of 
Gilchrist townshi]). 

Ole J. Sandvig, our present su'gect, was 
raised upon a farm, attending school and 
also assisting in the labors of carrying on the 
homestead. When he was fourteen years of 
age, he attended and took a course of nearly 
three years' study at the Norwegian College, 
at Decorah, Iowa, after which he supple- 
mented his education by attending the schools 
at Glenwood, for some time. At seventeen 
years of age he began teaching school and 
followed this profession for five terms in 
Lake Johanna township. In 1878, with his 
brother Christian, he purchased a farm of 
240 acres in Gilchrist township, and devoted 
a good share of his time to agricultural pur- 
suits. In 188-4 he was elected auditor of 
Pope county, and was re-elected in 1886, so 
that he is the present incumbent of that 
office, having made a record and attended to 



the manifold duties in a manner creditable to 
himself and satisfactory to ;d] concerned. 
He is a staunch republican in political mat- 
ters, and takes an active interest in all the 
campaigns of his party. 

Mr. Sandvig was married in 1883 to ]\Iiss 
Tobia Torgerson, a daughter of Knute Tor- 
gerson, of Gilchrist township. Their family 
consists of two children — Bertha A., and 
John O. Mr. Sandvig and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Cliurch. 



-<i»- 



oHlNDREW W. ANDERSON, <me of Pope 
_£^\^ county's most prosperous and liighly 
esteemed citizens, is a resident of section 10, 
Ben VV^ide township. He was born about six 
miles from Gotenborg, Sweden, October 29, 
1843, and is a son of Andrew and Ann Maria 
(Johnson) Swenson, who were also natives of 
that kingdom. Andrew lived on his father's 
farm until he was twenty-one years of age, 
and in 1865, he came to the United States. 
After landing in America, he settled in 
Sliell)y county, 111., where he remained until 
1867, working on the laih'oad most of the 
time. Moving from there to Pope county, 
Minnesota, he took a homestead of 16n aci-es 
on section 10, Ben Wade township, where he 
now resides. Our subject was a poor man 
on coming here, but by energy, economy and 
industry, he has placed himself in his present 
comfortable circumstances. He has a valua- 
ble farm of 276 acres, with a comfoitable 
house, barn and granary, nestled in a dense 
artificial grove of his own planting. He has 
had the misfortune to lose two crops by 
" hoppers " and from the time of his settle- 
ment on his claim until 1872, he lived in a 
little shanty. Our subject has over 110 
acres of land under cultivation, owns four 
horses, and eighteen head of cattle. The 
year after his moving on the farm he went 
with an ox team and load of flour from Ben- 



rOPF. COUNl^Y, ArijV.VESOTA 



3" 



son to Fort Totten, about 000 miles, camp- 
ing out every night, as there wore no settlers. 
The mari'iage of our subject occurred on 
the 23d of June, 1869, to Miss INfary Swen- 
son, daughter of Bengt and Inga Swenson, 
and they have been blessed with the follow- 
ing children — Emma, Alfred, Clarence and 
Adena. Our subject takes an active interest 
in all public matters, and is a republican in 
his political views. 



-^^ 



^M^RNE BENSON, one of the most suc- 
[W^~ cessful and enterprising citizens of 
Pope county, is a I'esident of section -t, 
Langhei township, lie is a native of Nor- 
way, born May S, 1844. His father, Bent 
Arnison, is also a native of Norway, where 
he is living, engaged in farming, and is at the 
advanced age of seventj' years. He is also 
a shoemaker, which he follows in connection 
with his ])rincipal vocation, farming. The 
mother is still living and they have five chil- 
dren — Arne, Sever, Julia, Mary and Andrew, 
all of whon\ are living. Julia and our sub- 
ject are the only two of the family who are 
in the Ihiited States. Mr. Benson came to 
this country in 1S76. and after landing in 
Castle (iarden. New York City, he came to 
Poi)e county, Minnesota, and took a a home- 
stead of 160 acres on section 4, in Langhei 
township, where he has since remained, lie 
was educated in his native land, aiu! at the 
age of sixteen years he left school and 
workeil at the shoemaker's trade until he 
was twenty -one, when he engaged in the oc- 
cupation of farming, in which he has since 
been engaged. 

The subject of this article was united in 
marriage, Aprd 14, 1872, to Miss Mary Nel- 
son, a native of Norway, born in June, 1836. 
She is the daughter of Nels and Betsy 
(Ivnutedolter) Benson, who were also na- 
tives of Norway. The parents are dead, 



and during life her father was a farmer and 
shoemaker. They had three boys and three 
girls — Knute, Nels, Michael, Jessie, Magde- 
lena and Mary. All the children except ]NIag- 
delena are in the United States. Mr. Ben- 
son has three children — Betsy, Nels and 
Benjamin, all of whom are single and at 
home. 

The family ai'e exemjilai'y membci'sof the 
Lutheran Church. Our subject is a man of 
the greatest integi'ity and honor, and is 
highly esteemed by all who know him. In 
political matters he affiliates with the repub- 
lican pai'ty. He has a well-improved farm 
of 200 acres with good buildings, and is rated 
as one of the most reliable and substantia] 
farmers in the southwestern poi'tion of Bo})e 
county. 

-^--S^^^J-* 

ICOLIA JOHNSON, one of the pros- 
])erous farnu?rs' of Pope county, lives 
on section 20, of Chippewa Falls township. 
He was born, December 11, 1841, in Nor. 
way. His parents were John M. and Sygna 
(Jorgenson) Midthum, also natives of Nor- 
way, where his father was engaged in farm- 
ing. The parents still live a retired life in 
their native land. The\' are members of the 
Luthei'an Church. They reared a family of 
twelve children, seven of whom are now liv- 
ing — Carrie, now .Mi's. Thorson ; Nicolia, 
Filing, liertel, Johanna, now Mrs. Johns<m ; 
Otto and Lyder. 

Our subject was raised on a farm at home, 
and there received an excellent education, 
he having taught school for some time, and 
in this he was very successful. At the age 
of twenty five, he embarked in the manufac- 
lui-e of boots and shoes, keeping a nund)er 
of workmen in his employ. In 1867 he sold 
out his interests in the land of his nativity, 
coming to the United States. He first stopjjed 
at St. Paul, where he worked in a large 
nurserv for a nujuth, then worked at slioe- 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



making a couple of inonths. From tliere he 
came to Pope county, and took uj) a home- 
stead of 160 acres, in tlie montli of June, of 
that year. This land is situated on the 
southeast quarter of section 20, of Chippewa 
Falls towiishi]), where he still lives. lie 
first built a " dug-out," and there endured 
the privations of a pioneer settlement. After 
tliree ycjii's he erected a log house lCx22 
feet, which was weather-boarded in 1885, 
making him the comfortable residence he 
now occupies, with an addition of 14x14, 
which was afterward added to the first 
building. He has a new barn, granary and 
other outbuildings fitted specially for farm 
use. Tiiere is also a fine growing grove — a 
living; monument to the good sense of the 
man, who, by his own hands, planted the 
thrifty trees com))rising it. He also has a 
half mile of trees along his road fence, which 
serves botii as wlud-break and ornament. 
Besides this tract of land he owns forty acres 
on section 28, ami also a timber lot of about 
six acres on section 22. He also has pur- 
chased eighty acres on section 36, as well as 
forty acres on section 35, making a total 
landed estate of 326 acres, including his tim- 
ber lot. He raises grain, cattle and horses. 

Mr. Johnson was married in 1867, to Miss 
Greturd Johnson, native of Norway, and 
daughter of John and Carrie (Iverson) 
Errickson, also natives of Norway. Her 
father died in his native land, and his wife 
and two children came to America in 1878, 
settling in Chippewa Falls, Minnesota. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnson iiave a family of five 
brigiit, intelligent children — John C, Nicola 
(r., I'ernhard S., Johannali S. and Caren S. 

Ill puliiics Mr. Johnson is a republican, and 
has thrice been chairman of the board of 
supervisors; been township treasurer and 
held various scliool otficos. He and his fam- 
ily belong to the Lutheran Church, and he is 
one of Pope county's soli<l, highl}' respected 
and well-to-do farmers. 



£^ENJAMIN N. WOLLAN, proprietor of 
the meat market at Starbuck, was 
born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, on the 10th 
of June, 1866. His parents wei'e Nels B. 
and Johanna Wollan, and his father is one 
of the most prominent old settlers in the 
count}'. A complete history of his parents 
will be found in another department of this 
work so it is unnecessary to refer to them at 
length in this connection. Our subject, Ben- 
jamin N. Wollan, was brought by his parents 
to Pope county, when a child, and has grown 
to manhood hei'e attaining his education in 
the district schools, and also attending three 
terms at the Minnesota Lutheran Seminary 
Institute at Willmar, Minnesota. He had 
but one week more to complete his business 
course, but through the necessities at home 
he was compelled to return to his father's 
and resume work. 

In March, 1888, he bought out the meat 
market of C. C. Gordon at Starbuck, and has 
successfully conducted it since that time. He 
is a careful business man, full of energy and 
industry, and is bound to succeed in what- 
ever he may undertake. 

«-S^^"^— — 

J3 EV. MAGNUS KOEFOD, pastor of the 
X'-i^ Inherred Lutheran church, of White 
Bear Lake township, was born in Norway 
on the 3rd of Se])tember, 1848, and is a son 
of Hans and Maria Koefod. The father 
was for years foreman of a wholesale mer- 
cantile establishment in his native land. The 
father came to Minnesota in 1882, and died 
here the following year. 

Kcv. Magnus Koefod, the subject of our 
present article, received bis education in iiis 
native land, and supplemented this by a 
course of academical study after his arrival 
in America. He began attending sciiool in 
his native land when six years of age, and 
continued steadily until he was fifteen, when 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



313 



lie was conlirmecl in the Lutheran Church. 
He then became a b()ok-k('e])er in the wliole- 
sale mercantile establisluncnt of wiiich his 
I'atiu'r was foreman, at Christiansund. Nor- 
way, and continued in tin's position for three 
years, (hiring wliich time he pursued, by pri- 
vate tutors, his study of German, French and 
Latin. At the age of eighteen he entered 
the seminary at Klaebo, Norway, from which 
he was graduated with the class of 1868. 
After this he remained at home teaching 
school for one year, and tlien, in August, 
1869, he came to the United States. He 
made his way directl}'^ to Decorah, Iowa, 
where he taught school for one year, and 
then entered the Lutheran College at that 
place, remaining for two years. He then 
took a two 3'ears' course at the Concordia 
Seminary at St. Louis, and was ordained to 
the ministry September 29, IST-i, at Sprmg 
Prairie. Wisconsin, by Rev. H. A. Preus, 
]ii-esi(l('nt of the Norwegian Synod of Amer- 
ica Jn October of the same year our sub- 
ject was called to the ciuii'ch at Wliite Bear 
Lake. Pope county, Minnesota, and became 
pastor of the Inherred and adjoining con- 
gregations in Pope and Stevens counties. 
Since Jlr. Koefod has had charge of these 
congregations they have prospered materially 
and spiritually, and church edifices have 
been erected at Glen wood, New Pi'airie and 
Emnumuel. In 1879 Rev. H. Johnson took 
charge of the churches at Scandia, Nora, 
Jlorris and Frog Lake, and in 1887 Rev. H. 
O. Koefod a.ssunied control of theGlenwood 
congregation, so that at the present time our 
subject devotes iiis entire attention to the 
Liiierred, Emmanuel, ant! St. Johannes 
congregations, all of which are in Pope 
county. 

Mr. Koefod was married Aj)ril 11, 1677, 
to ]\riss .Anna 1). Rigg, and they have a 
family of four living children. 

i[r. Koefod is a sincere and zealous Chris- 
tian, a man of thorough education, extensive 



research and wide observation. A genial, 
courteous g(!ntleman, he is highly esteemed 
by all who know him. He has one of the 
finest lil)raries of ancient works in the State. 
Among many other valuable and interesting 
works it contains Luther's complete works 
of twenty-four volumes, by Rev. George 
Wolch, printed fi'om 1740 to 1753; Schnick's 
Church History, of thirty-five volumes, reach- 
ing from the beginning up to the Reforma- 
tion, besides many other rare volumes dat- 
ing back to 1537. 



^■^^ 



«»► 



Jp)ETER AMUNDSON, the subject of this 
j^ sketch, is a highly esteemed and suc- 
cessful farmer, residing on section 24, Lake 
Johanna township. He is a native of Nor- 
way, born in the southern part of that king- 
dom, February 13, 1836, and is a son of 
Amund and Gretha (Olson) Amundson, who 
are natives of the same land. His father 
died in 1838. and up to the age of fourteen 
our subject attended school, and from that 
age on to twenty-one he worked at farming. 
He came to the United States in 1869, and 
settled in Pope county, Minnesota, in 1872. 
His mother is again married, her present 
liusband being Mr. Olson. Slie had three 
children by her fii-st husband — Ole, Peter 
and Georgine, and the following by her pres- 
ent husband — Anton, Sophia, Catherina, 
Mary, Marion. Gina and John. 

Our subject was married. June 26, 1856, 
to Miss Marion Mattea, a native of Norway. 
They have been blessed with two children — 
Gina and Olia. Gina was married ]\Iai'ch 
19, 1885, to Mr. Rusholt, a farmer, and they 
have one child — Alfred. Olia was married in 
1878 to ]Mr. Peterson, a farmer in Pig Stone 
count}', Minnesota. Mrs. Amundson died, 
August 14, 1888, at sixty-f(mr years of age. 
She was a member of the Seven Day Ad- 
ventjst Church. 



314 



POPE COUNTY, MIA'XF.SOrA 



When our subject settled in Pope count}^ 
he took a homestead of 160 acres on sections 
13 and 24, Lake Johanna township, built a 
house and commenced to make improvements. 
He now is in good circumstances and is en- 
gaged extensively in general farming and 
stock-raising. Mr. Amundson is a representa- 
tive man of las township and has held the 
following offices — supervisor, justice of the 
peace, constable, school clerk, road over- 
seer and assessor. He and his family are 
exemplary members of the Seventh Day 
Atlventist Church, of which organization 
he has been elder, class-leader and Sunckxy- 
school superintendent. In political matters 
he is a republican. 



-J^^-4- 



vOLVER JORGENSON is a prosperous 



\i^^ and liigiily esteemed citizen of Pope 
county, residing on section 2, Ben Wade 
township. lie was born in Christianten Stift, 
Norway, January 15, 1S27, and is a son of 
Jorgen and Julia (Ilolversdotter) Jorgenson, 
who were also natives of that kingdom. His 
father was formerly a I'ich farmer, l)ut lost 
all he liad, and the childi'en were forced to 
commence life for themselves. Holver at 
the age of ten years, went to herding cat- 
tle, and as soon as he was old enough he 
started at manual labor. On coming to the 
United States our subject came to Minnesota, 
and for a number of years was engaged in 
trapping. When he took his farm there were 
Ijut few settlers, his nearest neighbor being 
a distance of seven miles to the north. 
There were no settlements, and the only per- 
sons he saw ^vere the half-breeds, who wereon 
their way from AYinnej)eg to St. Paul. At 
one time, during these early days, our subject 
had a terrific encounter with a bear. He 
heard his dog barking and, picking uj) his ax, 
went out to see what it was. The dog was 
running around a large hole and savagely 



barking, and upon a neai-er approach a mon- 
strous bear rushed out upon Mr. Joi-genson. 
Instinctively he dealt it a telling blow with 
the ax, but onh' stunned it, and it staggered 
back into the hole, the ax falling in with it. 
Our subject then reached down beside the 
huge animal and got his ax. He was none 
too soon, for the bear had recovered and 
again savagely approached him. This time 
Mr. Jorgenson measured his blow and had 
the satisfaction of seeing the ax cleave the 
bear's skull. Our subject received $10 
for the bear's hide. The subject of this 
sketch has 200 acres of well-im])roved land, 
with a good house and other buildings. He 
has lost two ci'o]isby "lioppers." 

Our subject was married to Miss Tena 
Thompson, daughter of Thomas and Rachel 
Thompson, and they have had foui-ehildren — 
Rachel, married to C!. Perkins, and lives in 
Alexandria; Julia, married to S. Femrit, in 
Pope county ; Torena, married to A. Anderson, 
in Pope county, and George. Mr. Jorgenson, 
on the second day of August, 1SS8, lost his 
estimable wife by death. 



•■»-fSi^-^- 



J^^ARTINUS M. BERG, of Minnewaska 
lc\^iS%. township, came to Pope county in 
February, 1870. He is a native of Norway, 
born in 1S37, and is the son of Michael O. and 
Annie Berg, who lived a good and honorable 
farm life in their native land, where they 
died in 1854. They had a family of eight 
children, seven of whom survive — Annie, 
Ole, Martha, Bergett, Sarah, Christianna 
and Martinus. Two of his sisters came to 
America. The ])arents and family were 
members of the Lutheran Church. Tlie sub- 
ject of whom we write was reared on the 
home farm in Norway until he was seven- 
teen years of age. He worked for a doctor 
for eight years, then purchased a farm, 
which he worked for two yeai's, then sold, 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



315 



and. in 18t)6, came to America, settling in 
Fillmore county, Minnesota; remained one 
)'^ear, and renKJved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, 
where he worked out three j'ears, and then 
purciiased the 1*10 acres on section fi, wlicre 
lie now lives, in Minnewaska township. Pope 
county. Minnesota. Since then he has pur- 
chased forty acres, and erected new build- 
ings to take the i)lace of the pioneer cabin, 
which was 16x20 feet in size, and has his 
well-imi)roved farm of 20(1 acres all fenced. 
Mr. Berg was married, in ISSO, to Miss 
]\Iartha Lingen, a native of ISTorwaj', and 
daugliter of Even and Engerharg Lingen. 
In politics Mr. Eerg is a repulilican, and, 
tlirougli his political knowledge and interest, 
has been chosen to many offices of public 
trust, including chairman of board of super- 
visors in LSS2, township clerk, also treasurer 
of the Home Fire Insurance Company, lie 
and liis wife are botli honored memi)ers of the 
Lutiieran Cluirch. of whicli lie is a trustee. 



J^ETER HOFFMAN, one of Pope county's 
1'?" most respected and industrious farmers, 
lives on section 12, of Westport township. 
He settled first, in 1860, on the southeast 
quarter of section 3.5. He now owns 447 
acres, anil does a general farming and stock- 
raising business. lie was born March 25, 
1837,. in tlie city of New York, and is a son 
of John Hoffman. The mother died when 
our subject was (piite \'Oung; her name was 
Engel Kline, and her parents were of 
Prussian origin, having come to America in 
1836. They were residents of New York 
City until 18.57. Our subject lived in 
New York City until thirteen years of age, 
then enlisted in the regular army, in 1850, 
serving five years. He was a drummer 
boy for three years, and bugler for two 
yeai-s. The first year was spent at Gov- 
ernor's Island, two years at Newport, Rhode 



Island, and two yeai-s at Fort Snelling, Min- 
nesota. In 1861 he enlisted in the First 
llegiment of ]\Iiniiesota Volunteers. He 
went in as a drummer. He was connected 
with the Great Western P.and of St. Paul, 
and was one of the organizers of that cele- 
brated iiaiid. and looked upon as one of the 
best players in i\riiinesota. lie was married 
to Miss Catharine Prown. The date of tlieir 
marriage was June 29, 186 k His wife was 
a native of Philadelphia and was there edu- 
cated. She is the daughter of Thomas 
Brown, a farmer and landscape gardener. 
Mrs. Hoffman was the .second of a family of 
ten children — John, Catharine, Mary, Celia, 
Sarah, Ellen, Maggie, Belie, Hugh and Fran- 
cis. Mr. Hoffman Ijelongs to a family of 
seven — Peter, Catharine, John, ]\Iichael and 
Nicholas. The remainder of tiie ciiiidreii 
died in infancy. The motiier died in 1848, 
in the city of New Yorlc, she being taken 
away suddenly by cholera. Two children 
died at the same time. Our subject and his 
wife have eight children — Joseph, Sarah, 
Frank, Celia, Charley, George, K(jbei't and 
Hugh. Celia and Sarah are teachers — all 
are still single. 

In politics Mr. Hoffman is a democrat. 
lie belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, is 
a member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and also of the Masonic fraternity. 
In his army life he saw and e.xjierienced 
much hardship. He was at the battles of 
Bull Run, Edward's Ferry, Yorktown, Fair 
Oaks, Savage Station, Malvern Hill — first 
and second engagements. He was discharged 
at Baltimore in 1862, and went to Saint 
Paul, where he was made agent for tiie 
Minnesota Stage Company, working there 
five or six \'ears, after which he located in 
Pope county. He is one of the most in- 
telligent and enterprising citizens in the 
northern part of tiie county, and ranks as one 
of the most reliable and substantial citizens 
of the townshi]) in which he lives. 



3i6 



POPE COUNTY, MINKF.SOTA. 



^DWIN COX, one of the most promi- 
nent and influential farmers of Pope 
county, and one of the pioneer settlers, re- 
sides on section 28, Eeno township. He was 
born in Slicfford county, Canada East, Octo- 
ber 12, 1837, and is a son of Michael and 
Sarah (Miiiei-) Cox. He comes of a race of 
soldiers, as liis foreparents on botli his 
father's and mothers sides, as far back as 
tiie genealogy can be traced, including his 
father, uncle, grandfathers on both his 
father's and mother's sides, all served in the 
Critisii ai-my. His parents raised a family 
of eight cliildren — William, Francis, Thomas 
H., Edwin, Palmer, Michael, Geoi'ge and 
Sarah. William was given a college educa- 
tion, and when nineteen years of age he was 
drowned in a mill-pond near his father's 
home. Fi-ank is a road master on the Rock 
Island & Pacific Eadway, at Des Moines; 
Thomas H. is now colonel of a battalion of 
Canadian Volunteers. He served in the 
Union army during the Civil War, and was 
twice woundetl; nmstered out as captain. 
Palmer was, for twelve years, located at San 
Francisco, where he was emph)3'ed as a car 
builder and artist, lie is now an artist in 
jSTew York City, his office being at 658 
Broadway. 

Edwin Cox, our present subject, spent his 
bovhood days and received his education in 
Shelf ord county, Canada, attending school 
until he was about eighteen j'ears of age. 
After leaving school he roamed about a good 
deal for a number of years. For one season 
he was emph)yed in a cotton factory at 
Lowell, Massachusetts, and then went to 
Springfield, Massachusetts, where he re- 
mained until the war broke out, when the 
shops shut down, lie then went to Huron 
county, Ontario. In 1865 he came to Eice 
county, Minnesota, and engaged at the 
carpenter's trade in Faribault. During that 
summer he made his first trip to Pope county, 
and prospected in this region, and in the fall 



he took a claim on section 28, Eeno town- 
ship, where he still lives. After taking his 
claim he went back to his old home in Can- 
ada East, and in the spring of 1866, while on 
his way back here, in Huron county, Ontario, 
he was married, arrivino- here with his familv 
in June, 1866. He was among the very first 
settlers in the township, and shared with 
the rest the trials, disadvantages and iiai'd- 
ships of pioneer life. He has taken an active 
interest in public matters, helping to organ- 
ize the county, and for seven years served as 
chaii'uian of the supervisors of his townshii). 
He was the first justice of the jieace here, 
and had to go to Sauk Center to be sworn 
in. Besides these he has held a number of 
other township and school offices, and his 
name is closely identified witli the official 
history of the town and county. He is a re-- 
publican in political matters. 

Mr. Cox was married, in May, 1866, to 
Miss Alice Andrew, in Huron county, On- 
tario, his "wife being a native of England. 
They are the parents of six children — Sarah 
J., Palmer, Alice, Edwin, William and Isa- 
bella. 

In September, 1888, Mr. Cox was nom- 
inated for representative from Pope count}' 
to the Legislature by the people's conven- 
tion. The honor was one to l)e appreciated, 
as it came entirely unsought so far as Mr. 
Cox was concerned. 



pVER THOMPSON, dealer in hardwai'c at 
'§1 Cyrus, is one of the leading liusiness 
men in the western part of the county. He 
was born in Amherst township, Fil]nu)re 
county, Minnesota, August 4, 1855. Ills 
])arents, Thomas and Isabel i^Gunderson) 
Knuteson, are natives of Norway, and are 
energetic representatives of that prosperous 
nation, of which they are descendants. 
Iver's boyhood days were spent at home, 



POPE COUNTY, r.flNNESOTA. 



317 



on the farm, and at seventeen years of age 
he commenced to straggle for Iiimself. For 
a period of four years, after leaving home, 
he worked aronnd among the farmers, after 
which time lie came to Stevens county, IMin- 
nesota, and took a iiomestead in Hodges 
township, where he lived until 1883. He 
then came to Cyrus, wiiere he built a house 
and opened a hardware ston;. Our subject, 
from his untiring energy and recognized 
ability, has met with good success. He has 
an extensive ti-ade, and one of the most 
fully ecjuipped hardware stores in the county. 

The subject of this memoir was married, 
March 1, 1S73, to Carrie Anderson, a 
daughter of John and Betsey (Ellenson) An- 
derson, and they have been blessed with the 
following children — Carl, AUVed, ^^fary, John, 
Eugene. Eddie and Alma. 

In politics Mr. Thompson is a re))ublican. 

«"J^t^^-4^ 

^ NGEBRET OLSON, tiie subject of tiiis 
liiogra|)hy, is a resident of section 
4, r.lue Mounds township, and is a native of 
Norway, born April 2(), 1840. His parents, 
Ole and Julia (Ericksonj Nelson, are natives of 
Norway, and are still living there, where the 
father is engaged in farming. The parents 
have a family of seven children — Elizebeth, 
Runarg, Olena, Ole, Nels, Engebret and En- 
jjebret. Nels and Eno-ebret died in the old 
country. Ole died in the armJ^ 

Our subject was educated in his native 
land, and in 1868 he came to the United 
States and came direct to Minnesota, locat- 
ing in Filimcjre county. He remained liiere 
for a period of eighteen months and then 
went to Waseca county. Minnesota, where 
he remained two years and then went to 
Le Sueur county, Minnesota. After remain- 
ing there for a short time, he came to 
Pojie county, Jlinnesota, and in the year 
1872 he took a homestead on section 34, 



Blue Mounds township, where he lias since 
remained. He now has an extensive farm of 
some 260 acres with gooil building improve- 
ments. He is successfully engaged in gen- 
eral fai-mingand stock-raising, and has one 
of the most tlesirable places in his townshij). 
Our subject was married, March 31, 1874, 
to Miss Julia Torguson, who is a native of 
Norway, and the sail event of her death oc- 
curred about three months after her marriage. 
She was hurried in Langhei township. Mr. 
Olson was married the second time to Miss 
Mary Jacobson, April 17, 1875, and they 
have been blessed with the following chil- 
dren — Ida, Anna, Julia Caroline, ilena, 
Nels and Oscar. Anna, Julia C, Nels, Os- 
car and Mena died between the 7th and 12th 
of October, 1S8S. His second wife is a na- 
tive of Noi'way. In 1872 she came with her 
parents to this country. Her first husband 
is deadand wasljuried in Blue Mounds town- 
ship. She had one child by liim — ilary. 
Our subject and his family are e.\em])lary 
members of ihe Lutiieran Chui'ch. ^\v. Ol- 
son is a republican in ])olitical matters. 



fDSEPH COOK, a thoroughgoing farmer 
of Grove Lake township, owns a valuable 
farm on sections 27 and 28. He is a Cana- 
dian by birth and was born in 1858. His 
parents were James and Mary (Etcheson) 
Cook, who were also natives of Canada. They 
were farmers, who came to Minnesota in 
1860, when all was new and wild. They 
settled at St. Paul, remained one wintei- and 
tiien moved to Newport, nine miles from that 
city, going on a farm. In 1862 they went 
to Wisconsin and farmed until the father's 
death in 1874. The iiKJtiier, aged si.xty-five 
years, still lives in Wi.sconsin. They iiad 
nine children, eight of whom are now living — 
Antlrew, Martha, James, Jennie, Joseph, 
John, Thomas W. and Jessie. The parents 



3iS 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



were acceptable meiiibers of the Methodist 
Episei)j)al Cliui'ch. 

Our subject was I'eared amid the scenes of 
farm Hfe, remaining at home until after lie 
was of age. In November, 1880, lie was 
married to Miss Cora Mott, daughter of 
Jacob and Barsheba (Howes) Mott, who 
were natives of Kew York State. Mr. Cook 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, in 1881, 
settling in Grove Lake township, purchasing 
land on section Si ; lived on the same one 
yeai-, when he sold out and purchased a farm 
in Bangor, upon which he lived two years and 
then came to the ])lace he now occupies and 
owns in (irove Lake township. He has fine 
buildings and other improvements on his 
farm, and is accounted among the prominent 
farmers of his townshiji and county. Their 
family of children are as follows — Ernest 
J., Elva ]\L and Clyde S. 

In his political belief Mr. Cook is a repub- 
lican. John Cook, a brother, makes his 
home with him, and is also a farmer, owning 
land in Bangor township. He was raised in 
like manner to liis brother, Joseph. He is a 
single man, and i)olitically a republican. 
Both of the brothers are men of strict integ- 
rity, and are held in high esteem both as 
neighbors and as upright exemplar}' citizens. 



^NDREAS STOEN, a respected old set- 



^^ tier of Pope county, is a resident of 
section 0, 'White Bear Lake township. He 
was l)orn in Norway, March 9, 1836, and in 
his native land received that training which 
has made the Norwegian people proverbial 
as to industry, integrity antl economy. He 
grew to manhood in the land of his birth, and 
when twenty-two yeai's old entered the reg- 
ular army of that kingdom, and served for 
live vears. After that he was employed at 
various kinds of labor in that country until 
1867, when he came to the United States, 
and located in Houston county, Minnesota. 



There he was married, and put in his time at 
work for various farmers until 1869, when 
he came to this part of Minnesota, in search 
of a home. He came as far as St. Cloud, on 
the railroad and from there walked to 
Pope county, looking over the couutr}^ en 
route. He spent some two months in jn'os- 
pccting, and went as far noi'th as Otter Tail 
county, but finally decided to locate in Pope 
county, and accordingly entered a homestead 
on section 6, AVhite Bear Lake townshij), 
where he still lives. He purchased a yoke 
of oxen, and at once began improvements by 
breaking thi-ee acres of land, and then left 
his cattle here and returned to Houston 
county. He worked there until fall, and 
then brought his family to Pope county. 
During the following winter they lived with 
a neighbor and then, in tlie spring of ISTO, 
settled upon the homestead, where they have 
since lived. Mr. Stoen now has a valuable 
farm of 200 acres with l(i."> acres under culti- 
vation and seven acres of fine natural timber, 
and has excellent building improvements. 
His ])resent comfortable circumstances ai'e 
entirely due to his own efforts and good 
management as he was a pooi' man when be 
came here. He has taken an active interest 
in public and educational aflfairs, and has held 
various local offices. 

Our subject was married while in Houston 
county, Minnesota, to Miss Mary Anna Lund, 
and they are the parents of the following 
children — Arne, Emma T., Carrie A., Mena 
(deceased), Augusta, Betsie (deceased), Mar- 
tin, Josephina, Albert O., John and Oscar. 



WILLIAM D. BRAINARD, a prominent 
old settler, and a successful farmer, 
of section 6, Minnewaska township, is a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, born in McKean county, 
September 15, 1837. His parents were 
Aaron U. and Cathi'ine (Young) Brainard, 
who were natives of the State of New Yoi'k. 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



319 



They were married in Mclvean county, how- 
ever, in 1S35. The father was engaged in 
the lumber business in tliat county until 
1839, when the family moved to Illinois, 
settling in Winnebago county, where Mr. 
IJrainard carried on a farm, and did freight- 
ing; also kept a large amount of cattle — 
buying, selling and driving in the pinery 
regions of Wisconsin. In lS5Tthey removcii 
again, this time coming to Wabasha county, 
Minnesota, taking a homestead in Highland 
township, which he improved and continued 
to reside upon until the time of his death, in 
1868, his wife having died in Illinois, in 
1S55. They had a family of four children, 
one of which is dead. The living children 
are — William D., Sarah (now Mrs. Beggs), 
and Eachel (now ]\Irs. Keeney). The par- 
ents were both active members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

William D. Brainard, the subject of this 
sketch, was raised on his father's farm, re- 
ceiving a fair etlucation. lie remained at 
home until he was of age. For a time he 
worked at well-drilling in the East, and con- 
tinued at the same, both in Illinois and at 
liochester, Minnesota, to which latter place 
he went in 185<>. He tells of drilling one 
particular well to a depth of 270 feet, 208 
feet being in solid rock. This took him 
two months, and he received for the same 
$1,000. This well was drilled at some point 
in the State of Wisconsin. In 1863 he en- 
listed at the call, for " three hundred thou- 
sand more''^ men, in Company D, Ilatche's 
Battalion of Cavahy. He did active service 
in Minnesota and Dakota, during the Indian 
AVar, helinng to build Fort Pembina and 
Fort Wadsworth. lie was in detached serv- 
ice on scout, and the last ten months was 
commissary clerk at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 

After his return from the service he mar- 
ried iliss Catharine llarncame, a native of 
Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of 
George and Elizabeth (Brawley) llarncame, 



who were also natives of that State. Iler 
father was a tinsmith bj' trade, and worked 
at this in connection with a hardware store 
in Wabasha county, Minnesota, to which 
place he moved in 1855. Five years later 
the fatlier sold and engaged in farming in 
Highland township, remaining there until 
the time of his death. They had eight chil- 
dren, seven of whom are now living — ^Irs. 
Brainard, James, Elizabeth (now Mrs. Bas- 
musson), Arvilla (now ISIrs. Appel), Matilda 
(who is now jMi's. Hall), Alice (now Mi's. Bun- 
nells) and Sarah. 

After our subject, William D Brainard, 
was married, he moved his w^ife and house- 
hold effects to Pope county, Minnesota, com- 
ing by the way of Saint Paul, Saint Cloud 
and Sauk Center. They at once settled on 
their claim of 100 acres where they now re- 
side, having also taken a homestead in the 
western jiart of the county, on section 8, of 
New Prairie township, which they improved, 
secured the title to and then sold. Since 
then they have purchased 171 acres adjoin- 
ing their home, and SO acres in White Bear 
Lake townshi]). ls\\'. Brainard did his farm 
work and also a large amount of freighting 
prior to the completion of the I'ailroad. A 
republican in politics, he has held the office 
of supervisor for four years, anil at present 
holds that office and also that of constalde. 
He has always taken an active interest in all 
public matters. 

The family consists of six children — Will- 
iam, George, James, Elizabeth, John and an 
infant. 

It will doubtless be of no little interest, to 
those who read the pages of this Album, to 
know something of the pioneer hardshi))s 
o-one throuffh bv this familv, who have lived 
to see the wild praii'ies of North Minnesota 
changed to finelv tilled farms, with all the 
modern comforts of civilized life and thickly 
settled. Facts given to the author show 
that many are the nights when Mi-s. Uiainan! 



320 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



has remained alone, while her husband was 
away freighting. The hungry wolves would 
bai'k around, the pi-emises throughout the 
cold and dreary winter night. In 1867, 
when the flouring mills at Sauk Center 
shutdown by reason of the dam having 
been taken out by high water, they had to 
go to Saint Cloud, seventy miles distant, 
to obtain their flour and meal ; usually the 
latter was all that could be had. 

At first they built a log house 10x12 feet 
in size. Their nearest neighbors were a 
half mile to the south in the edge of the 
woods, while the Indians and the Eocky 
mountains bounded them on the north and 
west. As men moved into the country the 
elk moved out. Mr. Brainard has often 
killed deer, which was not only sport, but 
pi'ovided his family with choice venison. 
Once he killed, or rather assisted in killing, 
a bear about eighty rods fi'om his cabin 
home. During his freighting days this pio- 
neer has frequently cam]ied out on tiie broad 
prairies of a cold wintry night, during the 
severest of storms. In the winter of 1SC6-7 
he had to draw his hay, ami that of some of 
his neighbors, a distance of twenty-flve miles, 
as they came into the country in October, 
after the frost had cut its fatal swathe. 

While in the army Mr. Brainard stood on a 
high peak, just above where his house now' 
stands, looking over the countj- at a time 
when their horses had stampeded; he made 
the remark to his comrades, that after the 
war ended, he would ccjme and take the 
land he was then riding over and make for 
himself a home. Only one of the com]ianv 
made good the talked of settlement ; this one 
was J.W. Knowlton. who remained for a time. 

This sketch may well close by saying that 
integrity, industry and economy have been 
rewarded in Mr. Braiiiard's case, as he is 
now^ in comfortable circumstances, and is 
held in high esteem, both as a neighbor and 
as an exemplary citizen. 



Mr. Brainard gives an interesting account 
of the "Indian scare" in 1876. A number 
of Indians wei'e seen in the neighborhood 
of Pii)e Lake, and the report started that 
they v;qxq on the war path. The report 
grew as it traveled, and it soon ffi-ew 
to terrible and blood-thirsty proportions. 
Owing to the restless state of the in- 
habitants of Pope, Douglas, Stevens and 
the adjoining counties, the settlers, who 
remembered the fearful massacre of 1862, 
became terribly alarmed, and a frightful 
panic ensued. For three days the roads 
were crowded with settlers who were fleeing 
from their sup]iosed danger. Mr. Brainard 
says that he remained in the brush for thi'ee 
nights Avatching for Indians. The prairies 
were covered with stock that the settlers 
could not take with them, and a number of 
the settlers killed their hogs and threw them 
into the wagons undressed, and started off 
in great haste, expecting to dress their pork 
when opportunity offered. The loss to the 
farmers in this region can hardly be esti- 
mated, as so many left their stock, and, on 
returning, found it strayed, lost or stolen. 
There had been many Indian scares of less 
note previous to this one, but this was the 
last, and, except that there was no one 
killed, this created as much excitement as 
the original outbreak of 1862, and was al- 
most as destructive to property. 

During Mr. Brainard's early days here, in 
1866 and 1867, roving bands of Indians were 
continually passing through this region, 
which kept the inhabitants in a constant 
state of uneasiness, and after the soldiers — in- 
cluding volunteers, Ilatche's battalion, scout- 
ing parties, etc. — were withdrawn, the only 
militarj' protection the settlers could look 
for was provided by the few "regulars" 
stationed at Forts Abercrombie, Wadsworth 
anil Ransom, so the settlers had to do their 
own "guaril dutv." 



rorii COUNTY, mikxksota. 



321 



^LaNS LARSON, a prosperous anclwell- 

/ J. to-(l() fanner, residing on section 10, 
Langliei township, is a native of Norway, 
born in the eastern part, January 20, 1850. 
lie is a son of Lars and Olena (Olson) Han- 
son, wlio were also natives of Norway. 
The}^ all came to the United States in 1867, 
and settled in Wisconsin, where they re- 
mained for some time, when they came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and settled cm their 
present farm. They are the parents of three 
children — Ole, Hans and Betsy. Betsy died 
at tlie age of ten years. 

Hans Larson received his education in the 
land of his hirth, and was about Kfteen 
years old when he came to this cuunti'y. 
After landing in Quebec, Canada, he went 
to Green county, Wisconsin, where he re- 
mained one year, anil then came to Pope 
county, where he has since lived. 

Mr. Larson was married January 20, 1878, 
to Miss Betsy Larson, a native of Norway. 
She came to this country in 1874. They 
have been blessed with the following chil- 
dren — Lewis, Lars, Oieva, Jens, Betsy and 
Christiana, all of whom are living, and are at 
home. Mr. Larson and his family are ex- 
emplary members of the Lutheran Church. 
He is a republican in his political affiliations. 
Pie has a fine farm of 240 acres, well im- 
proved, and is engaged, e.xtensiveh', in gen- 
eral farmintr and stock-raisins'. 



-«- 



T^TaRCUS H. TRACY, real estate, loan, 
Ji>J.'r\^ insurance and collection agent, is 
one of the leading business men of Glenwood. 
lie is a native of Hancock county, Maine, 
born May 2<!, 18.1!), and a son of Nathan S. 
and Frances 11. Ti'acy. Ilis father has fol- 
lowed a sea-faring life ever since his boyhood, 
iiaving been captain of a vessel foi- many 
yeai-s, and a ship ownei'.. 



Marcus H. Tracy, our subject, received a 
good education, and when still a lad began 
a sea-faring life. At seventeen years of age 
he was second officer of the vessel on which 
he sailed, and when twenty-one was given 
command of a ship. lie followed the sea 
until 1SS5, when he determined to find a less 
dangerous avocation, and spend the balance 
of his allotted years on land. In that year 
he came to Glenwood, where he has since 
lived. During the first year he was here he 
was in the hardware trade, but since that 
time has devoted his attention to his present 
line of business. 

Mr. Tracy was married in 188-t to Miss ]\[in- 
nieM. Whittemore, and they have one child 
— Helen A. Mrs. Tracy is a daughter of 
Captain W. Tv. Whittemore, one of the most 
prominent citizens of Pope county, of whom 
a sketch appears in another department of 
this Ai.nixr. 



►^^ 



. s^-vjLE PETERSON, a prosperous farmer, 
^^ residing on section 28, Ben AVade 
township. Pope county, is a native of Swe- 
den, born at Yermland, ilarch 13, 1843. He 
lived with his parents on the home farm 
until he was twenty-tliree years old, wlien he 
came to the United States. Ole settled first 
in La Crosse, Wisconsin, wiiere he remained 
two years, working out among the neighbor- 
ing farmers b}' the montli. In lSti8 he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a claim 
in Ben Wade township, and being a single 
nmn he lived on the claim only as compelled 
by law. After filing on his claim he returned 
to La Crosse and worked for a time, and 
then came again to Pope county and worked 
in different places and at various occupations. 
In 1875 he settled down on his farm and has 
since remained here. He is a highly esteemed 
citizen. He has taken considerable interest 



rOPF. COVXTY, M!\XF.SOTA. 



in public matters, has been a member of 
board of supervisors and at one time chair- 
man of that bod\', constable, etc. He is a 
staunch republican in his politics. 

He was married June 25, 1879, to Miss 
Louisa Peterson, daughter of A. P. and Anna 
E. (Carlson) Peterson. Their marriage has 
been blessed with three children — Hulda M., 
Axel W., Hulda L., all of whom are living 
except Hulda M. 



M^RS. MAREN GORDEN, a resident of 



^'~Lir^section 25, Lake J olianna township, 
is the widow of Torsten T. Gorden. 

Torsten T. Gorden was a native of Nor- 
way. In lS-i4 he came to the LTnited States, 
and after landing, he went to Wisconsin 
where he remained twelve years and then 
went to Goodhue county, Minnesota, and 
after a ten years' sojourn in that place he 
came to Pope county, Minnesota. He was 
one of the earliest settlers in Lake Johanna 
township, there being only four or five 
families there at the time of his settlement. 
When he came here he homesteaded 160 
acres of land on section 25. He was edu- 
cated in his native land, and was a man of 
strict integrity and honor, higiily esteemed 
by all who knew him. His sad death oc- 
curred in the winter of 1873. He started to 
go to Brooten village with an ox team, and 
on the way back a snow storm overtook him; 
he became lost and perished from the intense 
cold. His body was foun<l after three days. 
He was interred in Lake Johanna township. 
He was fifty-eight years of age, and for many 
years of his life had been an exemplar}^ 
member of the Lutheran Church. 

Mrs. Gorden was born in Norway, Api'il 
29, 1827, and is a daughter of Ole and Anna 
Halverson, who were also natives of that 
kingdom. She received her education in her 



native land, and remained in school until the 
age of sixteen years. She has the following 
brothers and sisters — Mary, Ole, Halver, 
ILary, Gunder, Hans, Andres, Ahce and 
Carrie. Mrs. Gorden came to this country 
in 1816, and after landing in New York, 
came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and after 
living there for twelve years she came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, with her husband. 
She married Mr. Gorden in Dane count}', 
Wisconsin, February 1, 1848, and they were 
ble.ssed with the following children — Torsten, 
Ole, Hans, Anna, Maria, Alice, Sophia, 
Tilda and Karl. Anna was married in 1876 
to Mr. Vral Olson, who lives in Lake Jo- 
hanna township. Alice was married, in Feb- 
ruary, 1888, to Mr. Peterson, who is a rail- 
road contractor in Glenwood. The rest are 
single and are at home. Our subject has a 
good farm with excellent improvements, and 
is highly esteemed by all who know her. 
She and her family are exemplary mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church. 



-.^►. 



SHARLES FREDERICK, who will form 
the subject of this Inographical sketch, 
came to Pope county in 1882, settling where 
he now lives, on section 11, of Westport 
townshij). He has a quarter section of 
excellent farm land, all well imjn'oved, and 
does a general farming and stock-i'aising 
business. He was born in Orange county, 
New York, July 5, 1856. His parents were 
Jacob and Mary J. (Smith) Frederick, whose 
history is given elsewhere in this Album. 
Up to the time Mr. Frederick was eighteen 
years of age he was nearly blind, occasioned 
by a weakness of his eyes. Most of his 
school daj's were spent in Wright county, 
Minnesota. At the age of seventeen years 
he engaged in farming in Stearns county, 
Minnesota, going there in 1867, and from 



POPE COUNTY, M/.V.VF.SOr.t 



3-'3 



tliat locality lie came to Pope county, where 
lie makes a specialty of i-aising Norman 
horses. 

Mr. Frederick was married, July 26, 1882, 
to ^riss Jossie Perkiuson, who was reared 
and educated in Indiana. She is the daugh- 
ter of William Perkiuson, a farmer, Mrs. 
Frederick being- the j-oungest of tliree 
children in her father's famil}'. The mother 
died in 1862, and the father lives in Todd 
county, ^[innesota, on a farm. Our subject 
and liLS wife are the parents of three chil- 
dren — Altha May, Malvo and Benton. 

In ])olitics Mr. Frederick is a democrat. 
In addition to his farm work, jiroper, he has 
run a threshing machine for thirteen years 
in Stearns and Pope counties, lie has al- 
ways taken an active interest in everything 
calculated to benefit the locality in which he 
lives, and is justly rated as one of the most 
enterprising and leading citizens of the 
northeastern portion o'i the county. 

BANIEL PENNIE, a resident of section 
12, Leven township, is one of the 
most prominent old settlers in the northern 
part of the county. It was he who gave the 
name of " Leven " to the township in which 
he lives, in honor of a lake in Scotland — 
Lochleven. His name is ]irominentfe' asso- 
ciated with the official histoiy of the county, 
as he held the ollice of county commissioner 
for a number of years, besides filling various 
other local offices. He heli)ed to organize 
Pope county, and was one of the ]iarties that 
removed the county seat from Stockholm to 
Glen wood. 

Mr. Pennie was born in Kinross-shire, Scot- 
land, on the 2-ltli of Feiiruary, 1832, and is 
a son of Thomas and Marion (Drummond) 
Pennie. The grandfather of our subject was 
Peter Pennie, a school teacher. The father 
and motlier of Daniel came to the United 



States with their family in 1853, and located 
in Whiteside county, Illinois. In 1SG6 they 
came to Pope county, Minnesota, and re- 
mained here until the time of their death — 
tlie father dying in 1880, at eighty-one yeai"s 
of age, and the mother at si.\ty-seven x^eai-s. 
Thomas Pennie and wife were the parents of 
six children, three bovs and three jrirls — 
Peter, John, Daniel, Jenette, Belle and 
Elizabeth. The last named died when seven- 
teen years of age. 

Daniel Pennie s})ent his early boyhood in 
his native shire in Scotland, and came to the 
United States in 1851, when nineteen yeai-s 
of age. He learned the trade of a mason 
when a young man, and has followed that 
calling for manj' years, in connection with 
farming. In 1865, as above stated, he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, aiul located in 
Leven township, where he has since lived. 
He has been prominently identified with the 
growth and tlevelopment of the northern 
part of the county, iias been a leading s{)irit 
in all public movements, and every enter- 
prise or project calculated to benelit his 
town or county has always I'eceived iiis aid 
and encouragement. He is a man of the 
strictest integrity, and his word is recognized 
as being as good as a bond. 

Mr. Pennie was married on the 12th of 
October, 1853, to Miss Jane Kai)ier, a native 
of Scotland, and they have become the par- 
ents of the following children — Lizzie (now 
Mrs. George Townseud, of Leven township), 
•Thomas, Leven (deceased), Minnie, John, 
Scotia, and Peter (deceased). 

In political nuitters Mr. Pennie is a re- 
publican, and in religious affairs a member 
of the United Presbyterian Church, in which 
organization he has been an elder for a num- 
ber of years. 

]Mr. Pennie is a man of wide reading, 
general information and intelligence. He is 
a man of excellent literary attainments, and 
for twentv vears has been a contributor of 



324 



POPF. COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



poetry antl i)rosft to the local papei-s, ami a 
regular corrospondent to the Kinross-shire 
Adcertiver, of Scotia luk 

The following is the latest from his pen : 
The Exile's Dkeaji of Lochleven. 

1 As lately I strayed tlirough the forest shade — 

When glories of summer were dying 
And the autumn breeze through the leafless trees 

Her hist sad re(iuiem sighing. 
While over my soul a strange sadness stole; 

For beauties that fade I was grievin' 
Like a sprite astray I was borne away 

To thy pebbled shores — Lochleven 

2 No mythical strain called to mem'r3' again, 

As miser cons over his treasure 
But vivid and strong as an old Scottish song 

Stirs the heart with its Doric measure. 
The rapturous swell — how words fail to tell 

Of the depth of reality given — 
Or emotions that roll like a flood o'er my soul 

To greet thee again — Lochleven. 

3 In dreamland away methought that I lay 

On a broom covered brae reclining 
While full on the view o'er the Lomond so blue 

The harvest moon was shining. 
And I saw in my dream thy still waters gleam 

As illumed by the " Queen of even " 
. And the forest glades and the mountain shades 

Reposing in thee — Lochleven. 

4 With the morning light the mists of the night 

Up the mountain sideswere driven 
And the skylark rose, where theheathbell grows 

And warbled his song to Heaven. 
The hamlets that sleep by the dark mountain 
steep — 

By ages wrinkled and riven — 
With many a scar, as seen from afar, 

O'er thy wavelets blue — Lochleven. 

5 How lovely the scene — for summer was green, 

And the merle and mavis were singing — 
With the musical rhyme of the old steeple's chime 

When Sabbath bells were ringing ; 
And the yellow bloom of the whins aud the 
broom , 

With their tendril boughs enwoven. 
Where the daisy sweet and the blue bell meet — 

Thou gem of the vale — Lochleven. 

6 Through the ambient air shone the islets so fair — 

A scene that Arcadia might borrow — 
The old donjon keep where a Queen used to weep,* 
As she drained out her cup of sorrow. 

•Allusion i.s here made to Mary Queen of Scots" imprison- 
ment in Luulileven Castle. 



How much weal or woe — yet this much we know, 
When from throne and kindred driven, 

That Scotia's fair Queen oft gazed on the scene 
Encircling thy shores — Lochleven. 

My ear caught thy wail as stirred by the gale 

Thy crested billows were mourning. 
And sang on the shore, to Lochleven no more 

Shall the exile's foot be turning. 
This vision so bright — till the sun's mellow light 

Gave place to the shadows of even. 
Like fast fading day, so melted away 

The exile's dream of Lochleven. 
Lake Leven, Minne80t.\, October 14, 1888. 



-4►- 



%OUlS L. HEGLAND, one of the most 
prominent merchants of Pope county, 
and one of the eai'liest pioneers of Stevens 
county, is a member of the firm of Ilegland 
& Estby, dealers in hardware, lumber and 
farm machinery, at C^'rus. Mr. Ilegland 
was born in Boone county, Illinois, August 
31, 1857. "When he was about one year old 
his parents removed to Fillmore county, 
Minnesota, where his father bought land. 
There they lived until the spring of 18(56, 
when theymovetl to Stevens ^county, Minne- 
sota, and took a claim in Framnas township. 
This was before the township was survej'ed, 
and they were among the very first settlers 
of that count^^ Sauk Center was the post- 
oiRce, a distance of forty miles, while their 
market was at St. Cloud, a distance of eight}'^ 
miles. During the first years stay there 
they saw no one except the few who came 
the same summer. The next year emigra- 
tion commenced and they had home market. 
Mr. Ilegland gives many interesting accounts 
of his early residence in this region. At one 
time he saw a herd of ellv numbering at least 
200, and often would find a single one mixing 
with his cattle. They threshed their grain 
by treading it out with oxen, and improvised 
a crude fanning-mill Ijy taking a box and 
making holes in the bottom, and when the 
wind blew they would fill the box full of 



POPE COUJVTY, MINNESOTA. 



325 



wheat and swing it to and fro. In this 
manner th(> wlieat fell to the gi'ound, tiie 
wind l)lowin<i- tlie chaff awav. ^\v. Heeiand 
lived witli his parents iintil February, 1887, 
when lie came to Cyrns and went into busi- 
ness witii his brotiier-in-iaw, 11. C. Estby, at 
wiiich lie has since engaged. Our subject 
is a man of the utmost integrity aiul honor, 
and wliile in Kramnas township lield the fol- 
lowing offices : Supervisor, two terms ; con- 
stable, two terms ; and treasurer of Farmers' 
Alliance. His father served two terms as 
county commissioner, and died in the fall of 
1885, while serving his second term. 

Our subject has tiie following brothers and 
sisters — -Anna, Annon, Carrie, ]\Iary, Helena, 
Hans and Oleva. All are living except 
Oleva. Annon married Cari'ie Kron and 
lives on the old homestead with his mother. 
^[arv is married to H. C. Estby, the partner 
of the subject of this sketch. Helena mar- 
ried Ole Fossom, who lives in Albert Lea, 
engaged in farming, also hog and cattle l)uy- 
ing. Hans is in Brainerd, where he I'uns a 
butcher shoj) for Hegland & Estby. During 
the past year the firm with whicli our sub- 
ject is connected have bought over §(!,000 
wortii of cattle, and do both a wholesale and 
retail business. 



-«" 



IVER O. KAMRUD, a prosperous and prom- 
inent farmer aiul stock-raiser, residing on 
section 0, White Hear Lake township, is one 
of the old settlers in the northern part of 
Pope county. Born in Norway, October 28, 
IS31», he comes of the same race which has 
produced such a large proportion of Minne- 
sota's best citizens. He was bi'onght up on 
a farm, receiving a good education, and 
when twenty-two years of age lie entered 
the regular army of his native countiw and 
served for live years, after which he was en- 
gaged at farm work until 18G7, when he emi- 



grated with his family to the United States, 
having ju'cviously been married. Upon his 
arrival in the New World he settled in Man- 
itowoc county, Wisconsin, where he remainetl 
for two years engaged at farm work, also in 
the j)ineries, and some little time in a saw- 
mill. Li 1809 he i-emovc<l to Winneshiek 
county, Iowa, and one year later, in the 
spring of 1870, he started for Minnesota 
with an ox team in company with ten other 
pioneers and their families. All of tiie party 
settled in thisandadjoining counties. After 
looking about for a short time, our subject, 
homesteaded tlie southwest quarter of section 
6, White Bear Lake township, where he still 
lives. He at once began his improvements, 
and they lived in their covered wagon until 
fall, after which, for four years they lived in 
a ■' dug out " and then erected a house. 
Times were very luud in tiiose early days, 
and many disadvantages and difficulties were 
met with. Just as they were getting fairly 
started the grasshoppers came and for two 
years destroyed all, or most, of tlie crops and 
to support his family, Mr. Kanirud was 
forced to go to Fort Sisseton and go to team- 
ing. He stuck to the farm, however, and 
has since met with better success, so that he 
is now in excellent circumstances and is rated 
as one of the most reliable and substantial 
farmers in the townshi}). lie now owns 
about 285 acres of land, and has excellent 
building improvements, including a substan- 
tial house, barn, granar}*, and other out- 
buildings, nestled in a dense grove of white 
willow, Cottonwood and j)oplar trees of his 
own planting. In 18S-t, Mr. Kanirud lost 
eighty-live acres of wheat and fifteen of oats 
by a severe hailstorm whicli passed over that 
portion of the county. 

ilr. Kanirud has taken an active and 
prominent part in public affaii's, and has 
served in various local offices, including those 
of sujiervisor, school director, etc. 

Our subject was married while in the land 



326 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



of his biilli, to Miss Marit Hippe, and their 
union lias been blessed with nine chiklren, 
who are living — Carrie, Mary, Ida O.. Otto 
E., Edward T., Eina C, Sophia M., Martin J. 
and ('lara A. The family are members of 
the Lutheran Church, of which Mr. Kamrud 
has been treasurer and trustee. 



-♦- 



-«« 



NDREW P. ANDERSON, of Grove 
Lake township, of whom this sketch 
is written, is a native of Sweden, and was 
born in 18-18. He is the son of Andrew and 
Christina (Anderson) Anderson. They w^ere 
successful farmers in Sweden. The fatlier 
died in 1883. The mother is still living in 
the land of her nativity. Their family con- 
sisted of nine children, seven of whom are 
now living^IIannah, Andrew P., Maria, 
Aaron and llattie (twins), LIulda and Emma. 
Tiiose deceased are August and Annestine. 
The parents were faithful members of the 
Lutheran (Jhurch. 

Our subject was lirdught up on a, farm, re- 
maining in the laud of his l)irtli until 1872, 
when he came to America, stopping in Wash- 
inirton countv, l\rinnesota. lie worked at 
farm laboi' for five years and a half, near 
Newport, then came to Pope county and set- 
tled where he stil} lives, on section 2i, Grove 
Lake township. At first he purchased 200 
acres of land, to which he has since added 
forty acres more. He is a successful grower 
of grain, horses and cattle, and is one of the 
leading farmers of the eastern part of the 
county. 

Mr. Anderson was married in 1877, to 
Miss Matilda Kraft, a daughter of Andrew 
and Bessie (Peterson) Kraft, who were na- 
tives of Sweden, where they were engaged 
in farm pursuits. In 1873, thej' came to 
America, settling in Carver county, ^linne- 
sota, where they j)urchased an eighty-acre 
farm. The father died in 1877; the mother 



is still living in Carver count}^ where they 
first settled. They had a family of seven 
children — Christena, Andrew, Carl, Caroline, 
^[atilda, August and John. 

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have four chil- 
dren — Elmer, Emma, Minnie and George. 
Mr. Anderson is a republican in his political 
belief, and religiously is inclined to the 
Lutheran Church, which he and the family 
attend regularly. He has held the office of 
su])ervisor, and is one of Pope county's most 
highly respected citizens. 



JIeNS a. NEWGORD, a prosperous and 
^ highly esteemed citizen of Pope county, 
resides on section 3, Ben Wade townsiiip. 
He was born in Bergen Stiff, Norway, Sep- 
tember 7, 1853, and is a son of Andrew and 
Jane Newgoi'd. wlio were also natives of 
that kingdom. When our suV)ject wasaljout 
eight yeai's old his father came to this coun- 
trv and settled in Dane county, Wisconsin. 
Jens then started life for himself and hei'ded 
cattle. After herding for two years he 
hired out to John Natwig, a fai-mei' in A'er- 
non county, Wisconsin, and remained with 
him until he was over seventeen years old. 
All the wages he received foi' over eight 
year's work was ten dollars. It was the 
agreement that he was to get $50 per year 
for the last two years' labor, but this was 
not kept, and all he received was the amount 
mentioned. He then worked for various 
])ei'sons, and in March, 1870, he came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and bought 240 
acres on sections 3 and -4, building a house 
on section 3, of Ben Wade township. 

Mr. Newgord was married March 15, 1876, 
to Miss Ida Olson, and they have been 
blessed with the following children — Henrv, 
Mary, Albert, Josejih, Eddie. Minnie and 
Anna. Our subject is in comfoitable cir- 
cumstances, owns three horses, twent^'-four 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



327 



cattle and thirty sheep, and liis farm is one 
of the best in the townsiii]). Ninety acres 
of his Jand is under cultivation, and his 
buildings stand in a dense natural grove. 
Our subject alfiliates with the republican 
party, and takes an active interest in all 
jtublic affairs. 



-«- 



\ll.' (ilenw, 



THORSON, a lumber dealer in 
loutl, and one of the most promi- 
nent and influential citizens in Pope county, 
is a native of Norway, born September 22, 
IS-iC. lie came to the United States in 
1S55, and settled in Dane county, Wisconsin, 
where he remained for a few years, when he 
moved to La Crosse county, Wisconsin. He 
there attended school until 1S()2, when he 
enlisted in Company 13, Second Wisconsin 
Cavalry and was honorably discharged in 
18<>."j. lie was in the following engage- 
ments— Vicksburg, Gi'and Gulf, Port Gibson 
and Clinton. After his discharge he re- 
turned to La Crosse county, Wisconsin, and 
in 18(56 moved to Pope county, .Minnesota. 
From 1S<>7 to ISCO was deputy treasurer of 
the county. lie held the office of postmas- 
ter under General Grant's administration 
and was elected justice in 1S67, which office 
lie has since held. He held the office of 
clerk of county court from 1S71 until 1884, 
also various local offices, in Glenwood. In 
18Sr> he engaged in the lumber business in 
Glenwood, in which he has been engaged 
ever since. 

In 1882 he engaged, with others, in the 
banking business, and is now vice-president 
of the Bank of Glenwood. Mr. Thorson was 
one of the organizers of the Little Falls 
Railroad, and was one of the dii-ectors for 
some time. It was he who secured the right 
of way for the ]\finnea|)olis iV- Pacific Kail- 
road, and is at present right of way agent 
for that company. 



Mr. Thorson's mother, Olea Olson, died in 
1S70, and his father is living in Po])e county 
at the advanced age of eigiity years. 

Mr. Thorson was married in 1809 to Miss 
Olena Nordhus, and they have a family of 
three children — Alice O., Edwin and Guy. 
Mrs. Thorson died in 1881. 

Mr. Thorson is a republican, and takes an 
active interest in that party's campaigns. 



-«« 



►,»^ 



aKIJaARTVIG C. ESTBY, of the firm of 
-ir^L H. C. Estby iV: Company, of Cyrus, is 
one of the most pros|)erous and prominent 
business men of the town in which he lives. 
He was born in Trigstad, Norway, Ma\' 31, 
18.56, about five miles from Christiania, and 
is the son of Christian L. and Torino 
(Smaadal) Estby, both of whom wei-e also 
natives of that kingdom. When our subject 
was sixteen years old the family came to this 
country, settling in Meeker county, Minne- 
sota, on a farm which they rented. They 
remained there for four years, and then came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, taking a home- 
stead on section 20, New Prairie townshi]). 
where they still live. 

Ilartvig C. Estby, the sul)ject of this sketch, 
remained w.th his parents until he was 
twenty-one years of age, when he rented a 
farm and worked it foi- two years, also run- 
ning a threshing machine. ^Fr. Estby then 
(graded on the Little Falls A: Dakota Kail- 
road for one year, after which he stayed 
with his parents a year. In April, 1884, he 
eno-ao'ed in the lumber and grocerv business 
at Cyprus, in partnership with II. E. Olson 
but in two years dissolved partnei'ship, Mr. 
Olson taking tlie grocery, and our sidiject, 
the luml)er business. Mr. Estljy then engaged 
also in the cattle business, and in the fall of 
1SS6 he put in a stock of hardware, whicii he 
i-an for about six months alone. Then he 
took ^Ir. Jlegland, his bi'other-in-law, in 



328 



POPE COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



partnership with liim. Tliey are now hand 
hngail kinds of farm iniphMuent, in connection 
with their iiard ware and lumber trade. The 
firm also own a butcher shop in Brainerd, 
Minnes(jta, where they do a wholesale and 
retail business. During the last year they 
have bought over $6,000 worth of cattle. 

Mr. Estby was married November 17, 
ISSG, to Miss Mary Hegland. 

Mr. Estby, in political matters, is a repub- 
lican. 



-«-; 



/^^ARTIN H. BAUKOL, the subject of 
Jt'~~-tr'A^ our j)resent sketch, is one of the 
most substantial and highl}' respected citizens 
of AVhite Dear Lake township, his residence 
being on section 32 of that civil subdivision 
of Po})e county. Mr. Baukol was born in 
Norway, on the 29th of June, 1850. He 
was .raised on a farm in his native land, at- 
tending seliool and imbiliing those principles 
of industiy and economy which are so charac- 
teristic of the race from which he springs. 
In 1860 he determined to seek his fortune in 
the New Woi'ld, and accordingly sailed for 
America, making his way directly to Yernon 
county, Wisconsin. There he remained for 
six years, and then, in Ajjril, 1875, he came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and located on 
section 33, in White Bear Lake township. 
The following winter lie bought a claim of 
120 acres on section 32, which he afterwaixl 
homesteaded, and wliich is included in his 
present farm. lie now owns one of the 
most valualjle farms in the county, embi-acing 
240 acres, with over 200 under cultivation. 
His tlii'ift and enterprise are manifested by 
his sul)stantial building imjn-ovements, whicii 
ai'e a ci'edit to the township, including a fine 
dwelling and comfortable outbuildings. Lie 
is a careful business man, a good manager 
and a hard worker, and these traits have 
placed iiim in comfortable circumstances, al- 



though he started in life for himself, when 
leaving his native laud, without a dollar of 
capital. 

Our subject was married while living in 
Wisconsin, to Miss Annie Olson, and their 
union has been blessed with nine children, as 
follows — Carrie, Hannah, Clara, Annie, 
Olano, Sophia, Allen (deceased), Harris and 
Peter. 

The family are exemplary members of the 
Norwegian Lutheran Church. 



>P^AR 
W± re 



— «-!^t^-4^ 

.ARTWELL SILVER, who now leads a 
retired life, on section 26 of Grove 
Lake township, is a native of Caledonia 
county, Vermont, born ]\Iay 7, 1825. His 
]iarents were Ezra and Hannah (James) Sil- 
ver, natives of '^&\\ Hampshire and Canada, 
and were married in Canada East. His 
father was a blacksmith by trade, following 
the same throughout his life and in Vermont, 
with the exception of a few months in other 
places. He was a fine workman as an edge 
tool maker, making axes of the genuine old- 
fashioned sort. lie had a liberal education, 
and was a man of much intelligence. He 
died in April, 1843. The mother died in 1872. 
They were the parents of six children — 
Alonzo (now deceased, having been killed 
in a gun-boat expedition near New Orleans, 
in 1862); Clarisa, now Mrs. J. Hines, Frank- 
lin (died in 1847); Ilartwell, Valentine and 
Orison (twins), both dead. Ezi'a's father was 
the son of Rev. Samuel Silver, a Baptist 
])reaclier, who received liis education in New 
Hampshire and ]ireached in Vermont, con- 
tinuing ills labors in that State until the time 
of his death. He was of pure Scotch de- 
scent. 

Our subject, Hartwell Silver, was i-eared 
as a blacksmith, after first finishing his edu- 
cation. He remained at home until seventeen 
years of age, then went to New Orleans, where 



POPE COUJVTY, MINNESOTA. 



329 



he worked at his trade for four years. He 
then enlisted as a soldier in the ^^exican War, 
beino- In the service fi'oni i^oveniber, ISiT, 
until July, 1848. He then went to Detroit, 
Michigan, and was married there that year to 
Mrs. Sarah Sanderson, a native of Canada, 
and the daughter of David i\[. and Elizabeth 
(Wright) Moses. Her father was a tinsmith 
by trade, but later in life became a mcrciiant. 
He was a soldier in tlie Sixth Kegiment of 
the United States Army, enlisting in 1829, 
and received his discharge in ISJil, on ac- 
count of disability. He died at Portsmouth, 
Oiiio. in 1834. Tiie mother died in Pope 
county. Minnesota, in 1872. They had three 
children, ]^Irs. Silver being the only survivor. 
Mrs. Silver's first husband, David Sanderson, 
was a soldier in the Mexican War, and par" 
ticipatcd in all the important engagements 
up to the battle of Vera Cruz. He then took 
sick, and on the way home the vessel in 
which he took passage was wrecked and he 
was lost. 

After Mr. Silver's marriage he went on a 
farm in La Grange county, Indiana, remain- 
insr six months, and from there went to Lee 
county, Iowa, where he farmed until lSr)2. 
From Iowa lie moved to Fort Rijiley, work- 
ing at the blacksmith's trade again, and finally 
enlisted in Company A. Sixth United States^ 
Infantry. He enlisted as a private, was pro- 
moted to corporal, tlien to sergeant and from 
that to drill sergeant, and later had command 
of the sharp shooters on the Sioux expedition 
and was holding ihe position of sergeant major 
wlien discharged, in 1857. He then went to 
Detroit. Michigan, and from there to ^fissouri, 
where he had previously purchased 100 acres 
of land in Clark county. He moved over- 
land witii his teams and cattle. In 18tll lie 
formed a company of which lie was made the 
captain. They fougjit in Clark county 
during 1801, and in 1802 he joined the Six- 
teenth Illinois Cavalrv, going from orderlv 
sergeant to captain. He remained with that 



command until the close of the war. lie was 
taken prisoner at Jonesville, Lee county, Vir- 
ginia, January 3, 1804, and was for nine 
months an inmate of Libby Prison, and 
Macon, Georgia. xVfter his return from the 
service, he engaged in farming, in Missouri, 
continuing the same until 1809, when he 
came to Todd county, Minnesota, there pur- 
chasing a farm and engaging at farming and 
blacksmithing. He continued there until 
1879, then again sold and came to Pope 
county, where he still lives, as has been said, 
a retired life, in Grove Lake township. He 
has a family of lour children, living — Ellen 
(Mrs. Daniel, the mother of three childi-en — 
William H., Edwin and Charles); Edwin IL, 
Edward H. and Minnie,now Mrs. Smith,whois 
the mother of two children — ^laud and Earl. 

Mr. Silver is, in his political belief, a 
republican, and belongs to the Grand Army 
of the Re])ublic. 

Our subject has had a very eventful career, 
having been an extensive traveler. Crossed 
the Gulf of Mexico tiiree times ; been at the 
head waters of the Missouri river; also all 
along the Mississippi, Hudson and Mohawk 
Eivers,following thein to the sea. Ileexplored 
the wild plains to Fremont's Peak, and teamed 
for three years over 1,000 miles on the plains 
of the then wild West, and, greater stiU, trav- 
eled over 26,000 miles for mvestigation's sake. 



-^—: 



^1 EVERT OLSON FEMRITE, isa prosper- 
"^1^ ous farmer owning 187 aci'es of land 
on section 8. Pen Wadetownshiii, also thirty- 
four acres in Holmes townshij), Douglas 
county, and resides upon the latter piece of 
land, just across the line in Douglas county. 
He was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, 
August 6, 1849, and is a son of Ole L. and 
liertha Severson (Erlman) Femrite, who are 
natives of Xorway. Tiie last twoyears lie was 
at home he worked his father's farm on shares. 



330 



POPE COUNTY, MIXXESOTA. 



and then moved to Pope county, Minnesota. 
On his cominff here he bought 187 aci'es of 
land on section 3, Ben Wade township, and 
also thirty -four acres in Holmes township, 
Douglas county, Minnesota. His buildings 
are in Douglas county, and are but a few 
rods from the county line. Our subject is 
in comfortable circumstances, has about sixt}"^ 
acres under cultivation, owns three horses, 
nineteen head of cattle, thirty sheep and a 
number of hogs. He is highly esteemed by 
all who know him, and at present is super- 
visor of the township in which he lives. 

Our subject was married September 25, 
1871, to Miss Maggie Burnson, and they 
were blessed with one child — Bertha. On 
the 22d of April, 1874, his wife died, and he 
was married for the second time, to Miss 
Julia Jurgenson, dauo-hter of Halva and Tena 
Jurgeiison, and they have had the following 
children — Henry L., Tilda O., Anna L., and 
Jennie O. Mr. Femrite is in political mat- 
ters a staunch republican. 

^^MBRICK E. KNUDSON, who carries 
^^S^ on an extensive general merchandise 
business at the village of Brooten, in Stearns 
county, is one of the "old settlers" in that 
region, and deserves an extended mention in 
a work of this character. Mr. Knudson is a 
native of i\[innesota, born September 28, 
1861, and is a son of Mr. E. Knudson. When 
he was three years of age, in 1867, he was 
brought to Stearns countjr, Minnesota, by 
bis parents, who located in North Fork 
township, where they took a homestead, and 
there our subject grew to manhood. The 
father died in 1879, being sixty-four years of 
age, and the mother is still living with her 
son, Embrick. Our subject lias one sister 
living — Julia. 

E. .E. Knudson, whose name heads this 
article, received his education iu the com- 



mon schools of Stearns count}', attending 
until he was sixteen vears of age. He then 
entered the drug-store of E. Oakford, at 
Sauk Center, as a clerk, and retained that 
position for about four years. At the expir- 
ation of that time he purchased an interest 
in the store of T. J. Anderson, at North 
Fork, and was connected with that estab- 
lishment for about four years. He then 
sold out, and came to Brooten, where he has 
since lived. During the first year he handled 
agricultural implements, but now is en- 
gao-ed in the general merchandise ti'ade, 
carrying as heavy a stock as is to be found 
in the village. 

Mr. Knudson is independent in politics, and 
alwa\'s takes an active interest in all })ublic 
matters. He is a man of the strictest integ- 
rity, and his upright and honorable dealings 
have secured him a good ti-ade. 



►-.^> 



ELS NiLSON, one of the best known 
and most highly respected citizens of 
Hoff township, is a resident of section 24, 
where he carries on general farming and 
stock-raising. Mr Xilson was born in Nodre 
Aurdal, Norwaj', July 19, 1856. and is a son 
of Nels and Gure (Olson) Anderson. His 
father was a farmer through life and died in 
1886. The mothei' is still living, at an ad- 
vanced age, on the old homestead, where our 
subject was born, with her oldest son Anders 
Nilson. 

Our subject grew to manhood in the land 
of his birth, remaining upon the home farm 
until he had arrived at the age of seventeen. 
In 1873 he decided to seek in the New World 
that competency which he found so difficult 
to attain in his fatherland. Sailing, accoi'd- 
ingl}', from Liverpool, after a voyage of ten 
days he landed in Castle Garden, New York, 
and came at once to Pope county, Minne- 
sota. He first located in Langhei township, 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



331 



but one year later took up a claim of eighty 
acres in Iloflf to\vnslii|), where he erected a 
shanty and began inii)rovements. A yeai' 
or so later, the grasshoppers drove him out, 
and he went back to Pierce county, Wiscon- 
sin. There he purchased a farm and re- 
mained for eight years, engaged in farming. 
At the expiration of that time he returned 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and purchased 
160 acres of land on section 24-, Ploif town- 
ship, where he still lives. iVfr. Nilson, in con- 
nection with his farming interests, owns a 
share with T. C. Lien, T. Throtison and 
Samuel Olson, in a tlireshing machine, whicii 
they o[)erate successfulh- during the proper 
season. Our subject was one of a family of 
nine ciiildren as follows — Anders, Ole, Jule, 
Gunder, Ilachel, Ingred, Nels, Ole and 
Thora. Rachel and Thora are deceased. 
Thora died when three years old. Rachel 
grew to womanhood, was mai'ried and died 
when twenty-two. 

Mr. Nilson was married in 1S79 to Mary 
Larson a native of Norway. She came to 
the United States with her parents about 
1870, and they located in Pierce county, Wis- 
consin, where her father died, and where 
her mother still lives. Mr. and ]\[rs. Nilson 
are the parents of four children — Gusta, 
Nina. Ida and Nels Lewis, all of whom are 
at home. The family are active and exem- 
plary members of the Lutheran Church. \\\ 
political matters our subject has usualh' af- 
filiated with the rei)ublican party, but is 
rather independent in his political views. 



^^^ 



_^ LBERT M. WEBSTER, attorney-at-law 
''""^ in Glenwood, was born in Waukesha 
county, Wisconsin, in 1853. His father, 
who was a native of Massachusetts, came to 
Wisconsin at an early day, and was engaged 
in farming. 



In 1882 the father became in- 



terested in the banking business in Glenwood 
village, and is now the president of the 
Bank of Glenwood. lie had four sons — El- 
bert M., Daniel D., Waldo E. anil Union M. 

Elbert was raised on the home farm and 
received a good education. He is a graduate 
of the law department of the Madison Uni- 
versity. In 1875 he came to Glenwood and 
engaged in his profession. He is attorney 
for the Glenwood bank, also for the Minne- 
apolis & Pacific Railroad. He was county 
attorney from 1870 until 1881, and is one of 
the most prominent business men in the 
county. 

Mr. Webster was married, in 1S75, to Miss 
Georgia A. Muzzey, and they have two chil- 
dren. In political matters he is a republican. 



-*- 



«4>^ 



JMIaLVER HALVERSON is a native of 
^"^sL Norway, from whicii land come the 
best and most intelligent adoj)teil citizens we 
have in this country. He was born in 1836, 
and is the son of Halvor and Enger (Tosten- 
son) Aslaksen, also natives of Norway. 
They lived in the beautiful village of Pas- 
grund. The father was a mechanic, and fol- 
lowed his trade until he became convinced 
that this free land offered him Ijetter induce- 
ments than his native home. So, in 1866, he 
came to America, where he has also labored 
at his chosen trade. He is now living a re- 
tired life, at the ripe old age of eighty-nine 
years. His wife passed from the scenes of 
earth in 1885. They were the parents of four 
children — Elic, Halver, Torson and Knute. 
Our subject learned blacksmithing from 
his father, but when seventeen years <j1(1 he 
left home as a sailor, spending three years on 
a steamer. From his experience on the 
ocean waves he came to Canada, in 1855. 
In six weeks, however, he came on to Wis- 
consin, settling in Rock county, on Jefferson 



332 



POPE CO U A' TV, MINNESOTA. 



Prairie, where he remained for seven months, 
then went to Dane county and stayed a few 
months longer, and from there he went to 
Milwaukee, and sailed on the great lakes to 
and from Buffalo, New York. After several 
of these extended voyages he returned to 
Dane county, and there remained some years. 
From that point he came to the State of 
Minnesota, in 1863, working in an iron foun- 
drv at llasting's. But aoaintli inking to bet- 
ter his financial condition, he left for Dakota 
county, where he farmed for a time — the 
rich western ]miirie soil always having a 
sort of charm For liim. Tiie next few years 
he spent at fjlacksmithing in Northfield and 
AA'innebago City. In 1865 he came to Pope 
county, and was the first actual settler who 
stuck permanent stakes (as the man of the 
West says) in Glenwood township. He pur- 
chased 207 acres of choice land, where he 
still lives and enjoys the comforts of a good 
farm home, on section 24, Glenwood town- 
sliip. At first he built a log house, 16x25 
feet in size. He also erected the first house 
on the lake. Since he first located he has 
bought 140 acres more, and so now has a 
tract of 347 acres. 

Mr. Halvei'son was married in 1860, to 
Miss Margret Osmunson, one of his own na- 
tionality. She died within a year from the 
time of her marriage, of quick consumption. 
She left one child — Marcus. For his second 
wife he marrietl Julia Olson, of Norway, by 
whom seven children have been born — Ilal- 
ver, Ole, Gilmer, Ida, Elic, Henr}' and The- 
odore. 

In his political belief Mr. Halverson is an 
independent voter, caring less forpart\' name 
than for true principle. He holds the office 
of school treasurer, and is one of the oificers 
of his chosen Church, to which he and his 
family belong — the Lutheran. He is a highly 
respected, moral and upright citizen, and an 
honor to the nationality from which he 
springs. 




EV. CHARLES T. BARKULOO, one 
of the most prominent, influential 
and liighly respected citizens of Grove Lake 
township, is a native of Indiana, born in 
1836, and is the son of Harmon and Ee- 
becca (Thorn) Barkuloo, whose native State 
was New York. The father was a farmer 
of the thoroughgoing type, but not being 
fully suited with the East he came to In- 
diana in 1826, and 3'ears later, removed to 
Dakota county, Minnesota, where he again 
resumed his work as a farmer, continuing 
the same until his death, in 1871. The 
mother died in 1885. The\' were the parents 
of ten children, six of whom now survive 
them — Mary M., now Mrs. Liddle; Rachel 
C, now Mrs. Barnum ; William H.; Sophrona 
J., now ]\Irs. Curry ; Annie E., now Airs. 
McKinnie, and our subject, Charles T. 

Charles T. Barkuloo received his education 
in Ohio. Fie commenced preaching in Min- 
nesota in 1859, having preached for some two 
years prior to coming West. He is a Meth- 
odist minister. He is now preaching for the 
church at New London and Harrison, in 
Kandiyohi county. He begun his ministry 
in the Minnesota Conference, at Farmington. 
In 1869 he took land in Grove Lake town- 
ship. Pope county, and now has 620 acres. 
He remained there three 3'ears, and then 
was stationed at Sauk Center for two years. 
From tiiere he went to the church at Delano, 
Wright county. He next preached at Dodge 
Center, remaining one year. Next he served 
the people on the Berlin circuit, in Steele 
county, Minnesota, for two years ; then re- 
moved to Pine Island, Goodhue county, 
where he remained for two years. The rest 
of his ministry has been spent in the follow- 
ing order as to time and place : Blooming 
Prairie, one year; Faribault Circuit, three 
years; Alexandria, one year; Grove Lake, 
two years ; Pa\'nesville, three years ; and 
from there to his present charge. 

ilr. Barkuloo was married, in 1857, to Miss 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



333 



Martha J. Cassady, a native of Indiana. 
She was the daugiiter of Robert and Marga- 
ret (]\[oro'an) Cassady, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. Tiieir family consisted of seven chil- 
dren — Mrs. M. J. I!arknloo; Lavina, now 
Mrs Hart ; Daniel; Hannah, now ]\[rs. Kim- 
ball ; George ; Margaret, now INIrs. Gates, and 
Theodore. Her father now lives at Litch- 
field, Meeker county, ilinnesota, aged eighty- 
one years. The mother died in 1885. ]\Ir. 
Barkuloo and wife are the parents of one 
son — Hannon W., who married Mary F. 
Beard, a native of Wisconsin, to whom three 
children have been born— Charles W., Rob- 
ert and Bessie. Harmon W. Barkuloo is a 
prominent farmer in Grove Lake townshi]i, 
and is rated as one of the most substantial 
and reliable citizens of the county. Rev. 
Mr. Barkuloo is a staunch believer in the re- 
publican party and a strong advocate of the 
cause of temperance. He is a man of much 
more than ordinaiy mental attainments, a 
thorough scholar, of extensive reading and 
study, an able preacher and a sincere Chris- 
tion. He is held in the highest esteem as a 
neighbor, as an exemplary citizen, as well as 
a Christian worker. 



• ■ ■ > ■i^f^"^- 



JIVrMINUS E. LEYDE, a prosperous and 
Js'"-\. highly esteemed citizen of Walden 
township, resides on section 8. He was born 
at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, September 7, 
1845, and is a son of Frederick and Currance 
(Depue) Leyde. In 18.52 he came with his 
parents to St. Paul, where he remained one 
week, then journeyed to Cottage Grove, 
Washington f(junty, Minnesota, where his 
father settled on a farm. The year 1867 
saw them moving to Winsted, McLeod 
county, ilinnosota, where the father bought 
a farm, on wliich nur subject remained for 
some time, engaged in farming and running 
a threshinii machine. 



The subject of this sketch was married 
April 28, 1S72, to Miss Kittie Pinkerton, 
daughter of Ardell and Corinda (Woodbury) 
Pinkerton, residents of Victor, Wright 
county, Minnesota. This union has been 
blessed with five children — Raymond Fill- 
more, born April 2, 1873 ; Elsie Irene, born 
May 12, 1875 ; Leo DePue, born February 
25, 1879; IMaud ]\Iignionette, born February 
25, 1881 ; and Leila, born August 14, 1S87. 
After his marriage, Mr. Leyde and wife lived 
on his father's farm for one year, then bought 
a farm in Wright county, where thej^ lived 
for six years. In 1880 they removed to Pope 
county, Minnesota, where he bought eighty 
acres of land, on section 8, Walden township, 
where they have since lived. 

Mr. Leyde is a man of the strictest integ- 
rity and honor, and he and his estimable 
wife are highl}' esteemed by all who know 
them. They are exemplary members of the 
Methodist Church. Mr. Leyde afliliates with 
the prohibition party in his jiolitical action. 



-«•- 



^^►^ 



^""CHRISTOPHER L. BREVlG,an energetic 
and prominent young farmer, whose 
home is on section 33, White Bear Lake 
township, has been a resident of Pope county 
ever since he was a child. He was born in 
Norway on the 31st of July, 1804, and is a 
son of Lars A. and Annie Brevig. When he 
was but two years old his parents removed 
with their family to the United States, and 
settled in Clayton county, Iowa. There the\' 
lived for three years, and then came to Pope 
county, i[innesota, and located upon a home- 
stead in White Bear Lake township. 

Our subject was brought up on the home 
farm, assisting in the farm labor, and also 
attending school. When he was only seven- 
teen years old, in company with his brother, 
Knute L. Brevig, they pui-ciiased the origi- 
nal homestead on section 34, and began farm- 



334 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



ing on theii- own account. Three years later 
the partnersliip was dissolved, and Christian 
purchased the entire property. This he tilled 
for two 3'ears, and then, in 1885, he pur- 
chased 100 acres additional on section 33, 
White Bear Lake township, so that he now 
owns a lai-Mi of 240 acres. The farm is a 
valuable one, 110 acres being under cultiva- 
tion, and the building improvements are 
good. It is well adapted for general fai'm- 
ins' and stock-raisiii"', and Mr. Brevig is hav- 
ing good success in these lines. 

Our subject has taken an active interest 
in public matters, and is recognized as one 
of the leading young men of the township. 
He was appointed justice of the peace when 
only twenty-one years of age, and still re- 
tains that office. 



^P^ORY LARSON, an eneregetic a 
XIL thrifty farmer of Pope county, resid 



and 
ifty farmer of Pope county, resides 
on section 27, Ben AV^ade township. He is a 
native of Norway, born in Bergen Stift, 
City of Sliane, Septendjer28, 1836. and is a son 
of Lars and Isabell(>(Torson) Larson who were 
also natives of that kingdom. He, with his 
parents, came to the United States in 1846, 
and settled in Dodge county, Wisconsin, 
where they lived until three years ago, when 
they moveil to Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. 
In 1868 Tory Larson came to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and took a homestead on section 
27, Ben Wade township, his present place of 
residence. At that time his nearest market 
was St. Cloud, a distance of over eighty 
miles, and with ox teams it took eight days 
to make the journey. About this time he 
bouyiit two ox teams to bring' his g-oods, 
and had to pay forty dollars for them. One 
day in winter he started for Morris, and 
when he appi'oached within about three 
miles of the village, a severe snow storm set in 



so that he could not see his oxen. He drove 
so hard that the blood ran from one of the 
oxen's nostrils, and at night he reached a 
house where he remained until the storm 
had abated. He reached home five days 
after his de])arture. The severe storms which 
come up so suddenly anil almost without 
warning were a source of great annoyance 
to tho farmers of eai'lydays; sometimes he 
would go a siiort distance for a load of wood, 
and, being interfered with l)y the inclemency 
of tiie weather, would have to make a nund)er 
of days' ti'ip. One account which our sul)- 
ject gives, is that he once went on Tuesday 
morning to haul a load of wood a distance of 
seven miles, and, a storm setting in. he 
was unable to get back to his home till 
the following Friday night. They had an- 
other notably severe storm in which he 
could not go from one house to another for 
three days. In this blizzard his stovepipe 
burned out, tlie house came very nearly be- 
ing burned, an<l, as he could not put up the 
stove-pipe, they had to sleep in the cellar to 
keep from freezing to death. 

Our subject is one of the many brave 
"boys in blue" who found homes in Pope 
county after the Civil War. He enlisted 
October 21, 1861, in Company F, Fifteenth 
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served 
until January 13, 1865, when he was honor- 
ably discharged. He has participated in a 
great many hard engagements ; was at 
Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and in 
Eastern Tennessee, where his regiment did a 
great deal of skirmishing. He was witli his 
regiment in all their engagements, except 
Stone River and Perryville, and was one of 
the brave squad of four hundred who put 
to flight fifteen hundred rebels, and captured 
a great number of prisoners and guns. 

Our subject was married May 23, 1870, to 
Miss Regnal Johnson, a daughter of John 
Siockland and Osla Olson, and the}' have 
been blessed witii the following children — 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



335 



Louie J., Anton E.. Anna G., Lowry ]\I., 
Theodore, Jolin M. and Julia A. 

Mr. Larson is a representative man of his 
townsiiip, and has been supervisor and town- 
ship treasurer. The subject of this sketch 
was in poor circumstances wlien lie came to 
this country, his wife having to work in the 
old country until she had enough to [lay her 
passage, but by his energy, integrity and 
honesty he has ])laced himself in hisjirescnt 
comfortable circumstances. He has eighty 
acres of his farm under cultivation, good 
substantial l)uildings, eight iiorses, and twen- 
ty-eight head of cattle. His farm comprises 
240 acres of excellent land, eighty acres be- 
ing timber land. 



^^ RICK O. LIEN, an influential and in 
'^^ dustrious farmer residing on section 
31, Blue Mounds township, is a native of 
Norway. He was born in that country, June 
12, 1S53, and is asonof Ole and 01ea(Erick- 
son) Lien, who are natives of that kingdom. 
The father was engaged in farming, and died 
in 1885 in the land of his birth. The mother 
is still living in Norway. 

Erick O. Lien, our subject, came to Amer- 
ica in 1879 and made his way to Pope coun- 
ty, Minnesota. Upon his arrival he settled 
on section 31, Blue Mounds township. Our 
sul)ject has the following brothers anil 
sisters — Barbara, ('arrie, Gertude, Olea, 
Eliza, Ole. Erick, :\ricliael and Ole. Barbara 
wasmariii'd tna ^\v. Olson in (ireen county, 
Wisconsin, and died at the age of forty-four. 
Our subj(>ct s])ent his school dayii in his na- 
tive land, and at the ag(^ of lifteen, he left 
school and went to work on his father's 
farm. 

]\[r. Lien was married in May, 1883, to 
Miss Jlary Olson, who is a native of Norway, 
and came to this country in 1880. They 
have two children — Ole and Emma, Mr. 



Lien and family belong to the Lutheran 
Church. -He is school-clerk of school district 
No. 59. and is a republican in his political 
affiliations. He now has a good farm of 200 
acres, with good building improvements, 
and is engaged in general farming and stock- 



^-.^- 



<♦. 



LBERT KOCH, one of Pope county's 
fc^^.V most highly respected citizens, is a resi- 
dent of section 20, Nora township. He is a 
native of Germany, born in Lagensalza, 
Saxony, December 30, 1840, and is a son of 
George and Johanna Catharina (Ronge) 
Koch, who were also natives of that empire. 
Our subject's father was a cloth-maker or 
weaver, and at the age of fifteen, our subject 
went into the same factory in which his 
father was working, and remained working 
there for a period of three years. In the 
fall of 1857, he came to the United States 
and first stopped in INIadison, Wisconsin, and 
worked at various occupations, and in differ- 
ent places until 1861. He enlisted, August 
10, 1861, in Company F. Ninth Wisconsin 
Volunteer Infantry, and served until Decem- 
ber, 1864, four months over the time of his 
enhstment. After receiving his dischai'ge 
he returned to Madison, Wisconsin, and in 
ifarch, 1866, he enlisted in Company C, 
Ninth Ignited States Veteran InfantiT, and 
served until he was honorably discharged, 
March, 1866. In 1852 his father came to 
this country, and in April, 18til-, enlisted in 
the First Wisconsin Infantry, and afterscrv- 
in<'- three months he re-enlisted in the Tenth 
Wisconsin Infantry, and served until the 
summer of 1862. He was taken a pri.'.uner,and 
after being paroled, entered the same regi- 
ment in which his son was serving. He en- 
listed under the name of George Cook, in 
Company G, and served through the balance 
of the war. 



336 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



After the close of the war, our subject, 
Albert Koch, returned to Madison, and 
bought a farm, on which he lived for two 
years, when he sold out and came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead on 
section 30, Nora Township. lie has been 
burned out once b\' prairie fires, and after- 
wards they moved to his wife's claim of 100 
acres of land on section 20, Nora township, 
which she bought in 1884. 

Mr. Koch was married, December 18, 
1866, to ijiss Martha Olson, and they have 
ten children — Emma, Albina, Johanna, Her- 
man, Oscar, Carl, Albert, Bertha, Paulina 
and Edward, who is deceased. The family 
are all well educated, all speaking three dif- 
ferent languages, English, German and Nor- 
wegian. In politics Mr. Koch is a republi- 
can. 



I 



fDHN O. SNETTING, a prosperous and 
well-to-do farmer, residing on section 
22, New Prairie township, is a native of 
Norway. He was born at Bergen Stift, Nor- 
wajr, April 26, 1850, and is a son of Ole and 
Carrie (Nelson) Snetting. He lived on the 
home farm until he was sixteen years old, 
when they all came to this country, and the 
family stopped for tiiree years in Fillmore 
county, Minnesota. Tlien they moved to 
Pope county, and the father took a home- 
stead on section 24, New Prairie townshi]). 

During the time they lived in Fillmore 
county, our suljject worked out for farmers. 
He remained with his parents for about three 
years after their settlement in Pope county, 
and then took a homestead on section 22, 
New Prairie township, where he has since 
lived. 

Mr. Snetting was married July 15, 1878, 
to Miss Evaline Estby, daughter of Christian 
and Torana Estby. His marriage has been 
blessed with three children — Tilda Carolina, 



Ida Christiana and Nellie Bendica. Our 
subject's father died in 1880, and his mother is 
still living. Mr. Snetting has a good farm 
of 280 acres and is in comfortable circum- 
stances. In political matters he is a repub- 
lican. 

l^OBERT CRAIG, who resides on sec- 
J:Jh>- tion 12, Leven township, is one of the 
" old timers," or jiioneers, who came here in 
the early daj's of Pope county's history, and 
is one of the few old settlers left who have 
remained through all the disadvantages and 
hardships of the early days and the grass- 
hopper raids. He has been prominently 
identified with the growth and development 
of the northern part of the county, and is 
rated as one of the most solid and substan- 
tial farmers of the township in which he 
lives. 

Mr. Craig was born in Scotland, on the 
3rd of December, 1844, and is a son of 
Pobert and Elizabeth (Jafl'rey) Craig. His 
father was a fisherman and an ■• inn keeper " 
in his native land. When our subject was 
only one year old the family came to the 
United States, and located in "Walworth 
county, "Wisconsin, about thirty miles west 
of Milwaukee, where they were among the 
first settlers. The father died at "White- 
water, in that county, in 1S68. In about 
185S the family came to Minnesota, and 
located in Olmsted county. The mother, 
Elizabeth Craig, died on arriving in Mil- 
waukee. 

In August, 1868, Koiiert Ci'aig, our sub- 
ject, came to Pope county, Minnesota, and 
settled upon his ])resent farm, on section 12, 
Leven township. There he has lived ever 
since. He now owns one of tlie most valu- 
able farms in tlie townsliip. including 240 
acres, with comfortable improvements, and 
a large portion of it under cultivation. 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



337 



Mr. Craig was married on the 1st of Sep- 
tember, 18G8, to Miss Frances C. Walicer, 
and tliey are now the parents of eight chil- 
dren, as follows— -Grilda, Arthur, Letta, 
Edward, Minnie, Leroy, Jaffrej and Harvey. 
Mrs. Craig was born in Wisconsin, and is a 
daughter of Charles "Walker. 

Our subject has always been a staunch 
republican, and is one of the leading mem- 
bers of that party in the township in whicii 
he lives. He has held various township 
oflicos, and has been one of the directors of 
his school district for the past eight years. 



-«"J€J^:-^- 



/^ALE ENGEBRETSON, a resident of sec- 
\^/ tion 32, is one of the successful and 
respected citizens of White Bear Lake town- 
ship. Like so many of the successful and en- 
terprising farmers of Pope county, INIr. Enge- 
bretson is a native of Norway, born May 12, 
1842. He was brought up on a farm, and 
remained in the land of his birth until he 
was twentv-live vears of age, and then de- 
ciiled to seek his fortune in the Xew World. 
On the 1st of June, 1867, he left Norway 
and came to the United States, making his 
way directly to Fillmore county, Minnesota, 
arriving there on the -Ith of July, 1867. He 
was employed in that neighborhood until 
the fall of 1S72, and during the following 
spring he made his way to Pope county, 
Minnesota, and took i)y declaratory state- 
ment 12o acres of his present farm, on sec- 
tion 32, White Bear Lake township. Later 
he •• homesteaded " it. He at once began im- 
provements, breaking up some land and 
erecting a cabin in which to live. This has 
since l)een his home, although he lias since 
materially added to the improvements, and 
now owns 264 acres of land, of which 135 are 
undei- a high state of tillage. He has good 
l)uiidings and tiie general appearance of the 
place evidence the energy and industry which 



are characteristic of the man. When he 
came to America he owed even for his pass- 
age money, and he has since met with some 
reverses, especially during the "grasshopi)er 
times," but he has overcome all these disad- 
vantages, and is now in excellent circum- 
stances, and has a valuable herd of cattle be- 
sides his other property. 

Mr. Engebretson has taken an active inter- 
est in ail educational and other public mat- 
ters. He is at present ont; of the sujiervisors 
of the township and is one of the directors 
of school district No. 53. 

In politics Mr. Engebretson is a staunch 
republican. 

• < «• • - 



C. WOLFE, a 



IfmANIEL 

Iti-y farmer of Westpoi't township, 



prosperous 
was 

born in Llighland county, Ohio, July 3, 
1838. He is the son of William and ilar- 
gret (Elliott) Wolfe, natives of H'eland. The 
father came to the United States, at an 
early day, first landing in New York City. 
From there he went to Virginia, where he 
made his first settlement. He was a farmer 
and school teacher, following the same 
through life. The latter part of his life he 
was a local Methodist preacher in Keokuk 
county, Iowa. He died there in 1863, being 
lifty-si.x v^ears of age. He had held various 
offices of public trust, both in V^irginia and 
Iowa, and was a republican iii ]iolitics. The 
mother died in 1867, being over sixty-four 
}'ears of age. She was also a devout mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episco])al Church. 
They had a family of eight chihlren. all of 
whom grew to mature years — Virginia E., 
Daniel C, Reece, David, Sarah A., Martha 
E., Mary M., William L. Virginia, Keece 
and Sai-ah A. are dead. 

Our subject received his education in Ohio 
u|) to the age of fifteen years. He remained 
on his father's farm until he was of age, and 



338 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



finished his schooling in Keokuk and Wash- 
ington counties, Iowa. He received a higli 
school education, taking up the higher 
branches of study. 

Mr. Wolfe was married on the 2nd day of 
July, 1857, in Keokuk county, Iowa, to ]Miss 
Catharine DeLapp, a native of Tennessee, 
born January 6, 1843. She finished her 
education in Keokuk countj^ Iowa. Her 
fatlier was Joseph DeLapp, a farmer. She 
was one often children. Those living are — 
Tobitha, Louisa, John, Catharine, Susan, 
Henr}', Elizebeth and Idelia. Mrs. Wolfe's 
father died January 27, 1888, at Goonsbury, 
Arkansas, being eighty-two years of age. 
The last twenty years of his life he was a 
merchant. He was a member of the Metho- 
dist Church. The mother still lives in 
Arkansas. 

Our subject, Mr. Wolfe, and his wife be- 
long to the Baptist Church at Yillard, he 
being clerk of that organization, having held 
the place since theorganizationof the church 
at that point. He has held various local 
school and township offices, including those 
of director and supervisor, also justice of 
the peace. Mr. Wolfe settled in Leven 
township. May 6, 1875, on section 25. 
He bought a quarter section of land and 
made the usual improvements on the same. 
He lived therefor two years, and then moved 
to Grove Lake township, remained two 
years, and then homesteaded his present 
place, on section lit of Westport township. 
He has a quarter section of prairie land, and 
five acres of timljer. He also has four lots m 
Yillard village. 

Mr. Wolfe has, without doubt, as eventful a 
" war record " as any man in this part of the 
State. November 17, 1802, he enlisted in tiie 
Thirty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He 
was discharged in February, 1865, at Keokuk, 
Iowa. He served under Captain Wright, and 
was in a nuniber of important engagements, 
including Cape Girardeau, Memphis, Helena, 



Pine Bluffs, Little Kock and Elkin's Ford. 
He was in many skirmishes, and with 
General Banks at the time of his defeat, 
when he had been fighting forty days. Mr. 
Wolfe was taken prisoner at the battle of 
Elkin's Ford, and was held for three months. 
He was wounded in the hip, shot through his 
body, and had his right arm shot, as well as 
his head. After the war closed, he engaged 
in the grocery trade at loka, Keokuk county, 
Iowa. He followed that for four years, and 
then went into the cabinet business, in com- 
pany with John Mo3'er, at Lurav, Clark 
county, Missouri, remained there two years, 
and then sold his interest and came to Min- 
nesota, in 1874. 

Mr. AYolfe belongs to " Whitmore Post," 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a 
worth}' member of the Masonic fraternity, as 
well as the Good Templars and Grange lodges. 
Their family consists of thii'teen children — 
Clarissa, Penelope C, William Ira, Daniel 
K., Cora A., Omie W., IMartha C, Effie I., 
John R., Virginia E. and Mary C. Clarissa 
married Henry Evans, a farmer of Douglas 
county, Minnesota ; Penelope C. married S. 
B. Moon, a farmer of Westport township, 
Pope county. The other children are living 
at home, and single. Two other cliildren 
died — Benjamin H. died in 1858, he being an 
infant ; Francis C. died in 1SC3, at the age 
of three and one-half j'ears. 



PETER PETERSON, cashier of the Bank 
of Glenwood, is a native of Noi-way. 
lie was born the 29th of July, 1849, and in 
1857 he came to the United States with his 
parents. They settled near La Crosse, AVis- 
consin. In March, 1865, he enlisted in Com- 
pany D, Fifty-fifth Wisconsin Regiment, and 
after his discharge he returned to his parents. 
In 1866 he came to Pope county and settled 
in Gilchrist township, where he took 160 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



330 



acres of Government land, to which he has 
since acUleil 240 acres more, lie remained 
on his farm until 1872, wlien lie removed to 
Glen wood and clerked until 1874 in the Bank 
of Glenwood for Mr. E. Lytte. When Mi-. 
Lytte sold out, in 1874, Mr. Peterson entered 
the business in partnership with James G. 
AVhittemore. This firm continued business 
until 1882, when the firm was chanj^ed to 
Webster, Thorson k, Peterson, Mr. Peter- 
son being cashier. 

Mr. Peterson was married in 1877, to Miss 
Etta I). Kising, and they have a family of 
five children — Mertice, Edna, Freddy, Ilany 
and Sidney. In politics ilr. Peterson is a 
republican, and is a member of the Masonic 
ordei". 



^^UNDER OLSON, one of Pope county's 
^^^ most highly esteemed citizens, is a 
resident of section 2, Langhei township. He 
was born, July 3, 1854, in Dodge county, 
Wisconsin, and is the son of Ole and Julia 
Torguson, who were natives of Norway. 
The parents came to this country in 1850, 
and settled in Wisconsin. The father died 
in Wisconsin, in 1862, and had always fol- 
lowed the vocation of a farmer. The mother 
is still living with our subject, and is at the 
advanced age of seventy -three years. They 
had three children — Theodore, Kosa and 
Gunder. Theodore died at the age of nine- 
teen years, and was buried in Langhei town- 
shi]i. The parents and family are exemplary 
members of the Lutheran Church. Our 
subject, at the age of eleven, enlisted in tlie 
Seventeenth Wisconsin Infantry, and served 
as a private and drummer. He participated 
in the following battles — Nashville (Ten- 
nessee), Dalton (Georgia), Kingston (North 
Carolina), and at the latter ))lace was 
wounded and taken prisoner, and was 
paroled five months later. He was in 



Salisbury when Lee suri-endered, and was 
discharged at Baltimore, Maryland. He 
then returned home, and after rcmaimnir 
there two years went to Louisiana, and sjjcnt 
one year at Laurel Hill Plantation. He 
then returned home, anil the followintr sum- 
mer began working on a railroad, along the 
shores of Lake Superior, which he continued 
for some time. He then went to ]\lilwaukee, 
Wisconsin, and, after three weeks' sojourn in 
that cit}', he went to Te.xas with a cattle 
driver. From there he returned to IMil- 
waukee, wliere he remained for three weeks. 
He then came to Pope county, Minnesota, 
where his parents were then living. He 
bought land in Langhei township, where he 
has since resided. He now has an extensive 
farm of 240 acres, under good cultivation, 
good building improvements, and is engaged 
in general farming and stock-raising, and is 
one of the representative men of his townshi]i. 
In political matters he affiliates with the re- 
publican party, and he is an exemj)lary 
member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Olson 
is still a bachelor. 



-4- 



v'vlLE L. STEEN, one of the respected 
V^/ and highly esteemed citizens of New 
Prairie township, lives on section 22, and is 
a thrifty exam()le of the nationality to which 
he belongs. He was born in Bergen Stift, 
Norway, June 3, 1841, and is the son of 
Louis and Sena (Bringold) Steen, both na- 
tives of Norway. He worked on the home 
farm until he was twenty-one years of age, 
and then came to the Unite<l States. On 
reaching Chicago, Illinois, not having money, 
he worked for a few days, and then went to 
Dane county, Wisconsin. He remained 
there, working for farmers, until 1871, when 
he came with an ox team to Pope county. 
Minnesota, and took a homesteail in New 
Prairie township, on section 22. Not being 



34° 



POPF. COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



able to build a house, he lived in a cellar for 
ten or twelve years. He is now very com- 
fortabh' situated, 2S0 acres of land, ten 
horses, thirty head of cattle, all the farm im- 
plements he needs, and is rated as one of the 
most reliable and substantial farmers in the 
western part of Pope county. 

The subject of this biography was mar- 
ried in Dane county, Wisconsin, March 7, 
1869, to Miss Christina Gerdee, and they 
have been blessed with the following chil- 
dren — Lottie, Sena, Jennie, Louis, Christ, 
Edward, Lena, Martin and John. Mr. Steen 
is an influential man in his township ; he has 
held the oftice of school director, and is a 
republican in political matters. 



J^REDERICK LEYDE, a retired mer- 
JP^ chant, residing on section IS, Walden 
township, was born in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, July 19, 1802. He received 
but little education in his youth, onW at- 
tending scliool for three months. 

At the age of sixteen, in 1818, he com- 
menced life for himself by keeping books in 
a store, after which he was clerk in a store 
. and a postoffice. In 1828, he went into the 
mercantile business, in which he was engaged 
until 1835, when he was employed as an 
agent for a forwarding company in Johns- 
town, Pennsylvania. During the year 1846 he 
went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and went 
into the provision and supply business, at 
which he was engaged for four years. In 
1852 he came to Minnesota, and boiight a farm 
at Cottage Grove, where he lived until 1867. 
In 1867 he moved to McLeod count}', where 
he engaged in farming until 1880 in Win- 
sted township. The year 1880 saw him mov- 
ing to Pope county, and taking a homestead 
on his present place of residence, in Walden 
township. 
Mr. Leyde was married in Worchester, 



Ohio, October 31, 1828, to Miss Currance 
Sti-ong De Pue, wiio was born in Milford, 
Xew Jersey, October 28, 1807. Our subject 
and his family are members of the Metho- 
dist Church, of which organization Mr. 
Le\'de has been a member for over sixty 
years. In politics he is a. strong prohibition- 
ist. 



^-1-^ 



T^^RS. MARIA JOHNSON, the widow of 
j£\X£%Jo:QO\gQ Johnson, and a resident of 
section 20, Chippewa Falls township, is the 
subject of the following biographical review. 
Her husband, George Johnson, was a native 
of Norway, born January 31, 1845, and was 
the son of John M. and Sygna (Jorgenson) 
Midtlmn, who still reside in Norway. Their 
seven cliildren were — Carrie, now Mrs. Thor- 
son; Nicolai, Elling, Bertel; Johanna, now 
Mrs. Johnson; Otto and Lyder. 

George Johnson, of whom this sketch 
treats, was reared to farm labor, and part of 
his youth ^vas spent in clerking in a store. 
He worked his way through the schools, re- 
ceiving a first-class education. At one time 
he was in the employ of his Government, as 
diseased cattle inspector. In 1867, he, in 
company with his brother Nicolai, came to 
America, first locating at St. Paul, where he 
found employment in a nursery for a time; 
the same season, however, he pushed on to 
Pope county, where he claimed a 160-acre 
homestead, which is now owned by his widow. 
He built a log house, 16x24 feet, set out a 
grove, turned over considerable of the rich 
prairie soil, and enclosed the land with a 
good fence. He married Miss Maria Munter, 
who was a native of Sweden, the daughter 
of John and Kajsa (Larson) Munter, of same 
nationality. They came to America in 
1863, settling in Scott county, Minnesota, at 
Jordan. The family came on in 1804. tier 
father, however, had enlisted in the army in 



POPE COUyTY. MINNESOTA. 



34 1 



1863, serving until the war closed, when he 
removed to Pope county and took a lionie- 
stead of 100 acres in Chippewa Falls town- 
ship, on section 22, where he remained till 
his death, in 1ST',). He lel't a widow and livt> 
children — Mrs. Maria Johnson, Lars, Matilda, 
Mrs. 8teenson, Alfred and David. 

Mi's. Johnson has a famil}'^ of seven chil- 
dren — Sophiali M., Tiieodore J., Elizabeth 
O., George E., Peter O. C, Clara M. and 
Otto C. 

Mrs. Joimson and family still live on the 
same tract of land taken up as a homestead 
bv her deceased husband, toicether with 240 
acres which he had also purchased, making 
the whole tract 400 acres. Mr. Johnson 
was a man of great strength of character, 
beloved and respected by all who made his 
acquaintance. Both he and his wife were 
accepted members of the Lutheran Church, 
and were exemplary citizens in every way. 



►^^ 



^Mn DREW LARSON LUNDRING, is a 
jL^'i successful and well-to-do farmer re- 
siding on section 20, White Bear Lake town- 
ship. I)prn in Norway, September 27, 1S27, 
he comes of a nationality which has become 
proverbial for their tlirift, perseverance and 
economy. lie remained in his native land 
until he iiad reached the age of forty 
years, and then, in May, 1867, he came to 
the United States and settled near La Crosse, 
"Wisconsin, where he purchased a farm and 
engaged in tilling the soil. In 1871, he sold 
his farm, and, with an ox-team he drove, with 
his family, over-land to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, bringing five head of cattle, a few sheep 
and otlier property. The trip consumed a 
month. During the same year lie secured 
160 acres of the farm where lie now lives. 
His industry and energy, together with his 
business ability, have phiced liinr in comfort- 



able circumstances, as he now owns some 
245 acres of land, over 100 of which are under 
a high state of cultivation. His building 
improvements are comfortable and conve- 
nient and he has a beautiful grove surround- 
ing the place. 

Jlr. Lundring has taken an active and 
commendable interest in all public and edu- 
cational matters, being at ])resent one of the 
directors of his school district. He is a man 
of the strictest integrit}^, is highly respected 
by all who know him, and may justly be 
clas.sed among the truly representative farm- 
ers of the township in which he lives. 

While living m Wisconsin, our subject was 
married to Miss Annie Sandness. Tiieir 
union has been blessed with three ciiildren, 
as follows — Ole L., Bina and Laura. The 
family are exemplary members of tlie Luth- 
eran Church. 



^.M^UGUST ANDERSON, a prosperous and 
-/r\\. well-to-do citizen, resiiiing on section 
2, Ben Wade township, is a native of Sweden. 
He was born Xovenii)er 11. 1848, and is a 
son of Andreas Johnson and Anna Peterson, 
who are natives of that kin<jdom. August 
lived on tiie home farm until he was fifteen, 
when he commenced life lor himself by work- 
ing on the railroad, at which he was engaged 
for a period of two years. He then worked 
in a stone quari'v until became to the United 
States. The year 1871 saw him journeying 
to this country, and he settled first in St. 
Cloud, Minnesota, where he worked for farm- 
ers a few months; then went to work in a 
stone quarry. In 1880, he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and bought a farm of 160 
acres in Ben Wade townshi)) on section 2, 
where he has since remained. He is a most 
successful farmer, has a neat frame hou.se, 
about tiftv acres of land under cultivation. 



342 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 



five horses and fifteen head of cattle, and his 
farm is one of tlie most valuable in the 
neigh borhooil in wliich it is situated. 

The subject of this sketch was married in 
Ben Wade cownship, June 19, ISSO, to Miss 
Juha Toi'ena Jorgenson, a daughter of Ilel- 
verand Tena Jorgenson, natives of Norway. 
They have been blessed with the following- 
children — Henry L., Hank L. and Lena E. 
Mr. Anderson affiliates with the republican 
party in political matters. 



BR. QUINCY C. WARREN, a physician 
and farmer, whose home is on sec- 
tion 27, Grove Lake townshijj, was born at 
the foot of the Green Mountains, in Ver- 
mont, February 27, 1S43. He is a son of 
Zenas C. and Martha ("Wright) Wari'en, na- 
tives of Vermont. His father was a me- 
chanic, contractor and buihler, and now lives 
in Washington Territory. The mother died 
in 1S57. in IMinnesota. Zenas C. and family 
came to Minnesota in 1S55, and settled in 
Fillmore county. Zenas was, at that time, 
engaged at building and contracting, follow- 
ing that until 1S70. His jiarents were Eph- 
raim and Jane (Page) Warren, natives of 
Vermont. Ephraini came to Minnesota in 
185-4, settling in Eice county. He was a 
builder and contractor, and died in Illinois 
in 1872. Martha Wright's father's name 
was Luther Wright, who was a Vermont 
farmer. 

Our subject. Dr. Warren, learned the car- 
penter's trade of his father, and followed it 
for twelve years. He received his education 
in Vermont and in Wisconsin. In 1SG2, he 
enlisted in ('ompany F, Eighth Minnesota 
Regiment, and was in the service for tlii'ee 
years. He participateil in fourteen battles 
and skirmishes, going through the Indian 
outbreak at New Ulm : was in the Bad 
Lands, pai'ticipated in the battles of Nash- 



ville, Hall Creek, Clifton (Tennessee), Fort 
Fisher, Kingston, and other hard encoun- 
ters. By reason of heavy ordnance firing 
while in the army he lost his hearing. After 
he came home from the army he settled at 
Faribault, Minnesota, and engaged in con- 
tracting and building again. After one year 
he came to Pope county, and took a home- 
stead of 160 acres in Grove Lake township, 
where he now lives. At first he built him a 
rail pen, covered with hay, in which he lived 
while building his log cabin. This was 16x50 
feet in size, and three families hved in it for 
four years. He then built a good house at an 
expense of $1,500. He now owns a farm of 
215 acres, all well improved. In 1874 he 
commenced the study of medicine as prac- 
ticed by the homoeo])athic school, and now 
has a large practice in his neighborhood. 

Dr. Warren was married, in 1S65, to Miss 
Julia A. Velie, a daughter of William and 
Elizalieth (Sayles) Velie, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. Her father was, by trade, a mill- 
wi'ight. He came to Minnesota in 1856, lo- 
cating on the Cannon River, in Dakota 
countv, where he engaged in building a mill. 
He died in 1859. His wife died in 1853. 
They were the parents of nine children, only 
fotir of whom are now living — Alexander T., 
Mary, Henry and J ulia A. 

Our subject and his wife have six chil- 
dren — NeUie, Effa, Clark, Mabel, Louie and 
Fi-ank. 

In political matters Dr. AYarren is a re- 
publican. No man in the county has been 
more prominenth' identified with the official 
history of Pope county, for he has always 
taken an active interest in public matters, 
and held a great many of the local ofiices. 
He was one of the county commissioners at 
the time the county was organized, and 
helped to effect and complete the organiza- 
tion. He was appointed by the State to ap- 
praise the school lands and in many other 
ways has been prominent in public affairs. 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



343 



Ti^ARS O. TOFTNER. The subject of this 
ll^^ sketch is an energetic and thrifty farm- 
er residing on section 6, New Prairie town- 
sliip. He is a native of Norway, born at 
Christiania Stift December 27, 1840, and is a 
son of Ole and Ingbor (Ilolkeby) Toftner, 
who were also natives of that kingdom. Lai-s 
lived on tlie home fai'm until his father died, 
when he purchased the other chihlrens' in- 
terest, and then run the farm until 1870, 
when he sold out and came to America. He 
Hrst settled in Fillmore county, Minnesota, 
where he \vorked out two years, then came 
to Pope county, Minnesota, and took a home- 
stead on section 6, New Prairie township, 
where he has since remained. Lars also has 
a tree claim on section 6, and this, coupled 
with his original farm, gives him one of the 
most desirable pieces of real estate in his 
township. Mr. Toftner has endured many 
hardships and privations, and though he now 
has a good, comfortable frame house, his resi- 
dence for the fii'st four years was in a cellar. 
He has had one crop destroyed by hail and 
two cro|)s by grasshoppei's. During those 
eai'ly times his nearest neighbor was at a 
distance of six miles, and they used oxen as 
horses exclusively. During the great bliz- 
zartl of 1S73 our subject, in company with a 
neighbor, started with an ox team for Morris, 
but on getting about a mile from home the 
storm broke upon them in all its fury, and 
they soon saw that it was useless to try to 
proceed farther. After blindly groping their 
way for some distance they came to a small 
cabin, Imt were refused shelter. They then 
turned bade, and by one of them crawling 
to find the track and the other leading the 
oxen, they managed to find a shelter in a 
small grove surrounding a diminutive cabin. 
There they stayed three days, or until the 
fury of tiie storm had abated, when they re- 
turned home, thanking the Divine Providence 
which hail so mercifully spai-ed their lives. 
\\\ this storm three men were frozen U) death 



within less than one mile and a half from 
his house, and a fourth, Christian Hegg, lay 
out three days and nights, losing hfitli hands 
and feet, but recovering finally. 

The marriage of Mr. Toftner took place 
on the -ith of October, 1S72, when he was 
joined b\' the holy bonds of matrimon\' to 
]\[iss Matilda Larson, daughter of Andrew 
and Trene (Lundberg) Larson, and they have 
the following children — ()laf A., Clara J., 
Louisa E., Leonartl W., John, Ferdinand, 
Amanda L., Carolina A., George, and Half- 
dan. Our subject is a representative man of 
his township, and has held the office of chair- 
man of supervisors seven years and justice 
of peace two years. In politics Mr. Toftner 
is a republican. 

• ■' > ■ •^g^"^— ^ 

^ERTHIN R. SIGNALNESS, a prosperous 
and well-to-do farmer, residing on 
section l-t, Blue Mounds township, is a na- 
tive of Wisconsin, born September 22, 1802. 

Rasmus Signai.xkss, the father of Berthin 
R., wasl)orn in Norway, December 28, 1820, 
and remained in that country until 1862, 
when he came to the United States and set- 
tled in Dane county, Wisconsin. He re- 
mained there two and a half 3'ears, when he 
went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and after two 
years' stay in that place, he came to Pope 
county, Minnesota. He was one of the first 
settlers in Blue ]\roiinds township, and has 
been school clei'k, supervisor, assessor, ])ost- 
master, and at one time was mail carrier on 
the route between Langhei and Horace. He 
was married in Norway, Septend)er 23, 1847, 
to iliss Berget Olson, a native of that king- 
dom. During his early life he traveled and 
sohl goods, but after settling in this country, 
he engageti in farming. They hail eleven 
children, six of whom are living. 

Berthin It. Sigiialness, finished his school- 



in 



g, in the High School, at Sauk Center, 



344 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Minnesota, in 1886, having previously taken 
a course in tiie Iligli School in Minneapolis. 
For several years he was with commissioners 
in looking up timber lands, in the northern 
part of the State. He is a j'oung man of 
excellent abilities, and is one of the rising 
young men of the county. 



^ WAN ANDERSON, one of Pope coixnty's 
respected and pi-osperous citizens, is a 
resident of section 16, Nora township. He 
is a native of Sweden, born near Gutenberg, 
September 22, 1854, and is a son of Andi'ew 
and Mary (Swenson) Andrewson, who were 
also natives of that kingdom. 

Swan Anderson came to the United States 
in 1869, and worked in the neighborhood of 
Hastings, Minnesota, for three years. He 
then learned the carriage-making trade, and 
for the next three years he followed this occu- 
pation at Hastings. He tl}en went to Minne- 
apolis, wiiere he followed this trade for the 
next twelve or thirteen j'ears. In 1885 he 
came to Nora township. Pope county, ilin- 
nesota, and bought 141 acres on section 16, 
wliere he is still living, engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising. He has a neat, 
comfortable house, three horses, ten head of 
cattle, and has about fifty acres under culti- 
vation. 

Our subject was married, June 4, 1881, to 
]\Iiss Mary Osterberg, and they have been 
blessed with the following children — Eutli 
Doretha and George Oscar. Mr. Anderson 
is a man of the highest honor and integrity, 
and, although he was a p(jor man on coming 
here, lie has, by that energy, thi'iftand econ- 
omy which so distinguish the people of his 
nationality. ])laced himself in his present 
comfortable circumstances. In ]ioHtical mat- 
ters he is a repuljlican. 

Mr. Anderson visited his native land in 
1872, after being in this country three year.s. 



1 



l^t^EWIS D. WEBSTER, proprietor of the 



1^ Tennessee Hotel, in the village of Yill- 
ard, was born in the town of Saybrook, Ash- 
tabula county, Ohio, on the 26th of February, 
1828, and is a son of George and Harriett 
(Stone) Webster, who were natives, respect- 
ively, of New York and Connecticut. His 
grandfather, on his father's side, George 
Webster, Sr., was an Englishman, and was a 
farmer and a hotel-keeper. Lewis D.'s father, 
George Webster, was the fir.st settler of the 
town of Saybrook, Ashtabula county, Ohio, 
having located there in 1810. His principal 
occupation, through life, was that of a farmer 
and stock-raiser. The father of our subject 
died in 1864, the mother in 1858. 

Lewis D. Webster, the subject of this 
article, received his earlier education in the 
place of his birth. He then attended an 
academ}^ at Austinburg, in the same county, 
and supplemented this with a course at the 
college at Kingsville. x\fter leaving college 
he engaged in business for himself — farming 
and handling stock ; a few years later was 
ensaffed in the meat-market and saw- 
mill business. In 1883 he removed to Ten- 
nessee and remained there for four years. In 
May, 1887, he came to Pope county, Minne- 
sota, and located at the village of Villard, 
where he still lives. 

Mr. Webster was married in December, 
1859, to Miss Mary Jane Cooper, a native of 
Ashtabula county, Ohio. She was born in 
1838, and died in 1865, leaving two children — 
George and Frank. George is running a 
meat-market in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and 
Frank is farming in Pope county. 

Mr. Webster was married to his present 
wife March 3(nh, 1872. She was formerly 
Miss ^lartha Ann Iladden, who was born in 
Kirkhind, Lake county, Ohio, in 1849, and a 
dauglitcr of Jaccb Hadden. Her father was 
a native of New Jersey, and slie was tiiefiftli 
born in a family of seven children — Sarah, 
Eliza, Etta, James, Martha, Daniel and Myra. 



rOPE COUNTY, MIXXF.SOTA. 



345 



Mr. and Mi's. Webster, by this marriage, have 
become the parents of three chiklren — Wil- 
liam W., John E. and Fannie M. 

In ])oliticalniatlers our subject is a staunch 
republican. His first vote for President was 
cast for llenrv Clav. 



■1^^ 



:«♦' 



M^BNER M. JUDKINS, JR.. one of tiie 
JPsL. early settlers of Westport township, 
located there in July, 1866. lie took a 
quarter section of land as a homestead, and 
bought enough more to make his total landed 
estate 235 acres. He at once set about 
making for himself a valuable and attractive 
farm home. Jfotwithstanding all the draw- 
backs, coincident with pioneer days, being 
far from markets, etc., our subject has pulled 
through hard times, and lived to see the 
county transformed fi-om a di-eary desei't 
into a wealthy and thickly settled land, 
where each frugal farmer has enough and to 
spare. Vast has been the change since his 
early settlement, when he was one of five 
men who called themselves residents of 
Westport township, there being onl\' one 
house with a roof on in sight. He aided 
in organizing tlie civil township, and has 
ever taken an active part in all public 
affairs. He has held the office of township 
clerk for seven years, has been assessor and 
held various school offices in his district. 

Our suliject was born in the town of En- 
field, Penobscot county, Maine, April 26, 
1837. He is the son of Abner M. and Mary 
(Vose) Judkins, both natives of Maine. The 
father was a farmer through life, and was 
ever identified with the interests of his 
county. State and nation. He was educated 
at tlie old-fashioned common school, and made 
the most of all he learned in his school 
days. He i)elonged to tlie United Brethren 
Ciun'ch. and passed from the scenes of earth 
at the ailvanced age of eighty-four years, 



dying in February, 18S8. His wife died an 
even score of years prior to his death; it was 
March, 1868, when her spirit took its flight 
from its abode of clay. She was born in 
1803, and was, consequent!}', si.xty-five 
years old at the time of her death. His 
father's people were of Scotch extraction, 
and those on his mother's side were of Irish 
origin. They had a family of the following 
ciiildi'en — Margret, Andrew J., James, 
Alonzo, Albert, Abner M., Hartley, Francis 
and ilary A. Those deceased are James, 
Alonzo, Hartley and Francis ; all of these 
except James were in the Union army. 
James died in 1860, at home. Alonzo 
enhsted in 1861, in the Fourteenth lieg- 
iment of Volunteer Infantry, as did Hartley, 
Francis and Andrew. Our subject, Abner M., 
enlisted in the Eighth Wisconsin Battery, 
being mustered into service December 31, 
1863, and was mustered out at Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, July 10, 1865. He served under 
Captain Henry E. Stiles, and was in the en- 
irairements at Murfreesboro and Nashville, 
Tennessee, besides numerous others of less 
note in history. He retains diseases con- 
tracted in the service, which will, doubtless, 
follow him to liis grave. After his discharge 
he returned to Fi-iendshi)). Wisconsin, 
and remained in Northern Wisconsin until 
the following spring, and then came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, arriving here in July, 
1S66. 

Mr. Judkins was married, February IS, 
lS5t», in Otto, JIcKane county, I'ennsyl- 
vania, to Miss Emeline Judkins, a native of 
Enfield, ]\Iaine. Her father was Jedediali 
Judkins, a farmer and lumberman. Our 
subject's wife was the next to the youngest, 
and her people I'emoved to Pennsylvania 
when she was only twelve years of age. 
The mother is still living. The father died 
in 1874. jMr. and Mi-s. Judkins have four 
children— Charles W., Elmer E., Hubert B., 
Welden li. All the children are at home 



346 



rOPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



and unmarried. Charles has been a teacher 
for the past three years. In his politics our 
subject is a republican. He, like nearl}^ 
every old soldier in Minnesota, belongs to 
the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a 
worthy brother of the Masonic fraternity. 
A grandmother of our subject (his father's 
mother) died in 1870, at the extreme old age 
of 103 years. She and her son emigrated 
from Pennsylvania to AVisconsin wlien she 
■\vas ninety years of age, and five years later 
moved to Pope county, going in a "Dubuque 
wagon " a distance of 300 miles. She was 
the oldest wonum in tiie State of Minnesota, 
and retained her senses until within a year 
of her death. 



^^EVER O. RONNIE, the subject of this 
"^^z sketch, is a successful and pi'osperous 
farmer, residing on section 14, New Prairie 
township. He was born in Bergen Stiff, 
Norway, January 13, ISSo, and is the son of 
Ole and Sophia (Ottoson) Ronnie. 

Sever remained on the home farm until 
his father died, when he took charge and ran 
the farm for eleven years. In 1868 he came 
to America, being eight weeks on shipboard, 
and upon arriving, settled in Yernon coimty, 
Wisconsin. There he bought a farm and 
remained for seven years, twice coming to 
Pope county, Minnesota, to seil horses. In 
1875 our subject came to Pope county', to 
settle, and on June -l, 1875, took a home- 
stead on section 14, New Prairie township, 
where he still lives. He now owns an excel- 
lent farm of 2U0 acres, with comfortable 
building improvements. He has always met 
with good success as a farmer with the ex- 
ception of tlie "grass-hopper yeai-," when he 
lost his entire crop. Mr. Ronnie is a man of 
tlie highest honor and integrity, and is highly 
respected as a citizen. He served as assessor 



for ten years, and has always taken an active 
interest in all public matters 

Our subject was married in 1800, to Miss 
Martha Lermo, and the^'^ have had the fol- 
lowing children — Ole, Louis, Sever, Anna 
So])hia, Hans, Betsey, Lena and Alta. The 
last two mentioned are deceased. Louis is 
now assessor and Sever was a representative 
to the republican county convention held at 
Glen wood, September 1, 1888. Ole is mar- 
ried to Betsey Aneson and lives at New 
Prairie. They have six children. Anna 
Sophia is a school teacher, having taught 
two terms. 

Mr. Ronnie is a republican in political 
matters. 



^^NGEBRET ANDERSON, a prosperous 
^^^ and highly esteemed citizen of Lang- 
hei township, resides on section 11. He is a 
native of Norway, born in Nordre Aurdal, 
July 6, 1861, and is a son of Andrew Enge- 
bretson and Mary Swenson, who were also 
natives of that kingdom. They came to this 
country in 1866, and after landing at Quebec, 
Canada, proceeded to La Crosse, AVisconsin, 
via Chicago, Ills. In 1869, they came to 
Pope count}'^, Minnesota, and took a home- 
stead of 160 acres on sections 11 and 12, 
Lnnghei township, where they still live. He 
was one of the earliest settlers in the town- 
ship, and is a man highly esteemed by all who 
know liim. The parents have three sons — 
Swen, Ole and our subject, Engebret. 

Encebret Anderson received his education 
in Pope county and renuiined at home work- 
ing on the farm during the summers. He 
was married, November 4, 1885, to Miss 
Hannah Olson, a native of Christiania, Nor- 
way, l)orn July '2. 1861, and is the daughter 
of Ole S. and Martha Olson who were also 
natives of Norway. They came to America 
in 1866, and settled in La Crosse, AV^isconsin, 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA- 



347 



where tliey remained one year, anil tlien 
came to Pope county, Minnesota. Tlie 
fatlier is residing in Rolling Folks township, 
and the mother died in 1S79. Mrs. Ander- 
son, the wife of our subject, is one of six 
chiltlron, and was educated in Rolling Forks 
townsliip. 

Our subject and wife have been blessed 
with two children — Minda and Anna. Tiie 
subject of this article is a representative man 
of his township, and has held the following 
oHices — supervisor, school treasurer, etc., 
etc. 

Mr. Anderson has a well-improved farm 
of some 220 acres, with good buildings. He 
is en<;aoed in tjeneral farminij' and stock- 
raising, in connection with which he owns and 
runs a threshing machine. In political mat- 
ters he aliiliates with the republican party. 



>KtANS A. LAGESON, an enterprising 
^"^^SL and prominent farmer, residing on 
section 22, Chippewa Falls township, is a na- 
tive of Norway, born March 18, 1837. He 
is the son of Lage N. and Elata (Simonsen) 
Engen, also natives of Norway. The father 
learned the boot and shoe making trade, fol- 
lowing it for many years. He also had 
charge of a saw mill, at which he was en- 
gaged when he died, in 1852. The mother 
died in 1851. They were membei'S of the 
Lutheran Church. Their family consisted 
of live cliildrcn — Nels, Martin, Maren, Hans 
A. and Johnnes. 

Owv suljject received his education at 
Christiania, the capital of Norway. He 
worked in a paper mill four years. In 1853, 
he, with his three brothers, came to America, 
settling in Chicago, Illinois. From there he 
moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he com- 
menced to learn the cabinetmaking trade, 
but only remained one j'ear, as the com))any 
failed; he then returned to Cliicago, where 



he worked at the same business for another 
year. He tlien went to Iowa, and sto})po(l 
in Allamakee county, where he worked on a 
farnr, and also worked some at his trade. 
He remained there until 1801. He then en- 
listed in Company " 13," Fifteenth Regiment 
of Wisconsin Volunteers. He was in the 
service three years, and was taken prisoner 
at the battle of Chickamauga, after first 
being wouiuled on September 19, 1803. He 
was shot through the ankle joint, and was 
taken to Atlanta, Georgia, where he was a 
prisoner of war for five months, then was 
exchanged and sent from one hospital to an- 
other, till he got back to Madison, Wiscon- 
sin, where he was discharged. lie then re- 
turned to Iowa, where he was married in 
1866, to Miss Guro Johnson, a daughter of 
Daniel and Sessel (Stenerson) Johnson, na- 
tives of Norway. They came to America in 
1850, and settled in Taylor township, Alla- 
makee county', Iowa, where he was engaged 
in farming until his death, in 1857. They 
have five children living — Guro, now Mi's. 
Lageson ; Rerget, now ]VIrs. Engerbritson ; 
Stener; Sophia, now Mrs. Johnson; and 
John. 

Our subject, after his marriage, settled at 
Village Creek, in AHamakee county, Iowa, 
where he worked in a woolen mill for a year, 
then came to Pope county, Minnesota, leav- 
ing his wife with her parents in Iowa, until 
later. In 1868 he took a homestead in sec- 
tion 33, which he finally lost; he then ])ur- 
chased the 200 acres where he built a log 
cabin, close by the timber. He.has improved 
and added to his farm, which now has an 
extent of 382 acres. Mr. Lageson luis a fam- 
ily of eight children — Louise M., John D., 
Sophia A., Julia C, Albert G., Maria O., 
Herman A. and Josephene O. 

In politics, Mr. Lageson is a republican, 
and has held the offices of assessor, town 
clerk and chairnum of the board of super- 
visors ; also been school director, and is now 



348 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



school clerk. lie is a ^vorthy member of 
the Grand Army of the Eepublic, Canheld 
Post, Ko. 38, of Glen wood Village. He is a 
representative man of his county. Among 
other business interests, he is agent for the 
Manitoba Railroad lands, as well as for the 
trans-Atlantic steam ship lines. 



^^EORGE E. MCALLISTER, editor and 
\!^ pi'0])rietor of the Glenioood Times, has 
been well-known in the newspaper and edi- 
torial circles of this portion of the State for 
a number of j'ears. xVlt hough the paper of 
which he is now proprietor has been but re- 
cently established, it is already gaining a 
good foothold, and, under his energetic 
management, is bound to succeed. lie is a 
pungent writer, and is recognized as one of 
the most forcible and pointed editorial 
writers in this part of Minnesota. 

Mr. McAllister is a native of Clinton 
county, New York, born August 10, 1853, and 
is a son of J. 0. McAlhster. Until he was 
twenty-one years of age he remained most 
of the time at home upon the farm, attending 
school, and receiving a good education. In 
the mean time he had come West, and at the 
age referred to, he entered the office of Hon. 
D. W. Poindexter, at Osage, Iowa, where he 
studied law for about one year. In March. 
1870, he took charge of the St. Ansgar 
Enterprhc., in Mitchell county, Iowa, and re- 
nuiined there for three years. At the ex- 
piration of that time, in 1882, he came to 
Swift county, Minnesota, and located in 
Benson, where he established the Sioift 
County Press. After remaining at the head 
of that jiaper, as editor and proprietor, for 
three years, on the 1st of May, 1SS6, he ac- 
cepted a position in the land office at Benson, 
where he was employed at clerical work for 
about two years. In July, 1888, he came to 
Glenwood, and established the Times, which 



he still conducts. Through years of actual 
experience, he is a thorough news])aper man, 
and is meeting with well-deserved success. 

Mr. McAlhster was married, in 1880, to 
Miss EUen Tarrant, of Fox Lake, Wisconsin. 
They are the parents of three children — 
Frank, NeUie and Ina. 



-^. 



^ RICK JOHNSON, a resident of section 



\i^ 19, White Bear Lake township, is one 
of the most successful and enterprising farm- 
ers and stock-raisers in Pope county, and 
one of the most highly respected old settlers. 
lie is a native of Sweden, where he was l)orn 
August 19, 1832. He was brought up a 
fai'mer, and followed that vocation in his 
native land until he was thirty-six years of 
age, as he owned a small farm there. In 
1SG8 he came to the United States and set- 
tled in Rice county, Minnesota, where he re- 
sumed his agricultural pursuits. In the fall 
of 1870 he came to Pope county and took a 
homestead of 160 acres on section 20, in 
White Bear Lake township, upon which he 
settled with his famil}^ during the following 
spring of 1871. He at once began improve- 
ments, but times were hard, and he, like all 
tlie other old settlers, was poor. At first he 
was obliged to work for other farmers as op- 
portunity offered, sometimes only receiving 
from twent3^-five to fifty cents per day for 
his labor. For this reason he was only able 
to get five acres broke on his own place 
tlui'ing the first year. He "stuck" to the 
place, however^ and by his thrift, industrj' 
and economy overcame the many obstacles, 
and is now in comfortable circumstances. 
After proving up on his homestead he pur- 
chased 120 acres of railroad land, so that he 
now has an extensive and valuable farm, 160 
acres of which are under cultivation, and the 
beaut}' and value of the surroundings are 
enhanced by a grove of about four acres 



rOPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



340 



wliicli lie planted himself. Since the early 
(lays he has met with some reverses, espe- 
cially during " grasshopper ycai'S," hut he has 
fully recovered from that setl)ack, and now, 
hesidos his other properly, has a valuable 
herd of cattle and horses. 

J[r. Johnson was married before leaving 
his native land to Miss Carrie Knudson, and 
they have a family of four children — John 
Erickson, Erick E., Ole Erickson, and Annie 
Johnson. The first three were born in Swe- 
ilen, and the last in Pope county. The fam- 
ily are exemplary members of the Lutheran 
Church. 



-^. 



©AVID OLSON LEBECK. a respected 
faiMucr and stock-iaiser of the western 
part of the county, is a resident of section 
4, New Prairie township. He is a native of 
Norway, born in Christian Stift, March 15, 
1833, and is a son of Ole and Carrie 
(Andrest) Davidson, who are natives of that 
kingdom. David's father died when our 
subject was but fifteen years old. David then 
took charge of the farm, and remained upon 
it until he was twenty-four years of age, 
when he sold out, and came to the United 
States. He first settled in Allamakee county, 
Iowa, where he remained for nine years, 
working out. In IST'J ho came to Pope 
county, Minnesota, and took a homestead in 
New Prairie township, on section 4, where 
he has since remained. 

Our subject was manieil, in July, 1S.")9, 
to Jriss ^[ary Olson, daughter of Ole and 
Ingebar Olson, and they have been blessed 
with the following children — Oliver, Jo- 
hanna, Anna, John, Emma and Clara. 
Oliver is married to Emma Ijenson, and 
lives in Lowry. Johanna is married to 
Erick Gjsme, and resides in Wisconsin. Mr. 
Olson was a ]ioor man when he came to this 
country, liut has by his own exertions placed 



himself in his present comfortable circum- 
stances, having a valuable farm of 160 acres, 
also three horses, fourteen head of cattle, 
and about fifty acres of land under cultiva- 
tion. In political matters our subject affili- 
ates with the republican party. 

2TbHN TOBEY, a farmer, r(>siding on scc- 



i^ tion 15, Walden township, is a native 
of l\raine. He was born in Wales, Maine, 
January 5, 1823, and is a son of John and 
Rispah (Soule) Tobey. John received a com- 
mon school education, and remained at home 
until he was of age. He then began a 
seaman's life, and after some time settled in 
Massachusetts, where he was married in 
1848. He then returned to his native State, 
and there remained until 1871. In 1871 he 
came to Minnesota, and worked two years 
in teaming and in the pineries. Mr. Tobey 
then settled in Stevens county. In 1880 he 
sold the place he had taken and came to 
Pope county, settling on his present place of 
residence. 

Mr. Tobe\' is a democrat in his political 
belief. 



• ■ » -^^^ -< *- • 

fOHN LARSON, the proprietor of the Jfin- 
newaska Poller Mills, in Starbuck, was 
born in Denmark, June 22, 1847. lie remained 
in his native land, en":a;;ed in a llourin<' 
mill until twenty-five years of age, when he 
immigrated to the United States and settled 
in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he followed 
his trade for six years. In 1877 he went to 
Minneapolis, ilinncsota, and for the next 
eleven years was steadily engaged in the 
Holly flouring mills, of that place. In the 
spring of 1888 he came to Starbuck and 
built his present mills at an expense of §9,000 
or §10,000. The mill stands in the city 



350 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



limits, and is fitted throughout with the E. 
P. Ellis machines. Besides being engaged 
in milling he carries on a general exchange 
business in the grain and v\iieat trade. 



/^^LE JOHNSON STOCKLAND, a pros- 
Vs^ perous and highly esteemed citizen of 
Ben Wade township, resides on .section 35. 
He was born near Skien, I^orway, August, 
12, 1S52, and is a son of John and Auslaug 
(Olson) Etfleson, who were also natives of 
Norway. At the age of fifteen his parents 
came to America, settling in Dodge county, 
Minnesota, where they stayed two j'ears. In 
1869 the family came to Pope county, Min- 
nesota, and our subject stayed with theni until 
he was twenty -one, when he took a homestead 
of 160 acres on section 35, Ben Wade township 
where he has since reuiained. When he first 
settled there were but few settlers, and being 
in reduced circumstances, coupled with the 
devastations of the grasshoppers, they, with 
other farmers, received aid from the State. 
During the early times their nearest market 
Wiis St. Cloud, Minnesota, and as times -were 
very iiard the pioneers had to suffer many 
hardships. 

Our subject was married in October, 1876, 
to Miss ilary Toryson, daughter of Tory 
Johnson Bottum and Ingebar (Jacobson) 
Bottum, and they have been blessed with the 
following children — John, Jacob, Aletraand 
Ingebar. 



^^^^ 



«<►► 



JOHN EMMERSON, a prominent old settler 
in the eastern portion of Pope county, 
IS a resident of section 25, Grove Laketown- 
shi|i. He was born in New Brunswick in 
1831, and was ijrongiit up at farming and 
also in the lumbering trade. ^Vhen he was 
twenty-one years of age he left his native 



province, and came to the United States, 
settling in Rice county, Minnesota, where 
he was engaged in farming for ten years. 
At the expiration of that time he came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and settled upon 
the farm in Grove Lake township, where he 
still resides. 

Mr. Eramerson was married in 1881r, to 
Annie M. Johnson. The family are mem- 
bers of the Adventists' society, and Mi's. 
Emmerson, for a number of years, has been 
a lecturer on theological subjects. 



f^ANlEL ANDERSON, a prosperous and 
'^Mf well-to-do citizen of Pope county, is a 
resident of section 21, Gilclirist township. 
He is a native of Norway, born March 12, 
1810. At the age of thirteen he commenced 
the business of fishing, which he followed 
until he was twenty-nine. At that age lie 
came to tiie United States, settling first in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he remained 
for nine weeks, helping through harvest. He 
removed from there to Adams count\', Wis- 
consin, whei'e he remained three weeks, en- 
gaged at hop-picking, after which he came 
to St. Paul, Minnesota, and worked two or 
three months on the Manitoba Eailroad. In 
the following December he came to Terrace, 
in Pope county, and in the spring of 1869 
took land on section 24, Gilchrist township, 
where he has since remained. Our subject 
has a fine farm of 280 aci-es, 100 acres of 
which are under cultivation ; has fifty head 
of cattle, and ten horses. Mr. Anderson 
takes an active interest in school matters, 
antl is highly esteemed l)yall who know iiim 
as a man of the utmost integi'ity and an 
exemplary citizen. 

The subject of this sketch was married 
January 1, 1868, to Miss Carrie Peterson and 
they have the following children — Peter, 
Anton, Donart, Christian, Isabelle, Johanna 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



351 



and Annie. Our subject and liis faniil}' are 
exemplary members of the Lutheran Church. 
Mr. Ander.son is a trustee in his church. In 
political matters affiliates with tiie republi- 
can party. 



— — "^f^t^^-*-- 



J^ EV. EDWARD N. RUDDOCK, pastor 
Jlm\, "f the Congregational fliui'cii, and one 
of the leading citizens of the village of Vil- 
lard. in I'ope county, is a native of J'uckland, 
Franklin county, Massachusetts, born Janu- 
ary 18, 1831, and is a son of Samuel and 
Hannah (Ames) Ruddock. His parents re- 
moved to the State of New York about the 
year 1835, and settled in Chenango count}', 
where the parents died, the mother at fifty- 
six and the father at eighty 3'ears of age. 
Thej' raised a family of six boys — Chester, 
Samuel, Levi, Edward, Charles and Nathan. 
Samuel died in 1841 being fifteen years of 
age. Three of them are now living in Min- 
nesota — Edward, Charles and Nathan. The 
others are living in Wisconsin. During the 
Civil War the family furnished two Union 
soldiers who went to the front. Levi enlisted 
in the Eighth New York Cavalry, and served 
about three yesu's. Nathan enlisted in the 
Seventy-Sixth New York Infantry, and was 
severely wounded in the battle at Antietam. 
Edward N. liuddock, our present subject, 
spent his boyhood days in New York State. 
He received an excellent education, attending 
the Oberlin College, and supplemented this 
with a course at the New York Central Col- 
lege, lie then adopted the ministry as a 
life calling, and was ordained at East Phar- 
salia. New York, in 1858. After this he 
followed his profession in New York State 
until 1873, when he accepted a call at Dart- 
ford, Green Lake county, Wisconsin, and 
removed thither with his family. He re- 
maineil there two years, and then for a short 
time was located on the Pine Iliver, after 



which he again returned to Dartford. As 

his wife's health was failing, for her benefit 
he then removed to Western Kansas, in the 
empW of the Home Missionary Society. 
There his wife died, in ISTS, leaving a family 
of three children — Herbert M., Elmer E. and 
Lillian L. Shortly after this event our sub- 
ject returned to Dartford, AVisconsin, aiul 
again took up his j)rofession. Later. Mr. 
Ifuddock came to jMinnesota, and for some 
time preached at Appleton and Benson. He 
then accei)ted a call to the pastorate of the 
church at Hancock, Stevens county, wjiere 
he remained two years, when he came to 
Yillard, and has since been pastor of the 
Congi'egational church at that j)lace. lie 
is a man of fine attainments and an able 
]ireacher. 

Mr. Euddock's present wife was formerly 
Eliza D. Hannahs, a native of Monroe county. 
New York. She received an excellent edu- 
cation at the Genesee Seminary, at Lima, 
New York, and for twelve years followed 
the profession of a school teacher, in which 
she was extremely successful. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ruddock have been the j)arents of two chil- 
dren — Fred R., deceased, and Edward L., 
who is living. 



/g^ RICK E. SKOGEN, a thrifty and entcr- 
\^^il prising fai'mer, residing on section 18, 
Nora townshi]), is a native of Norway, ijoi n 
eif'hteen miles north of Walders. Christiania. 
July 27, 1841. He is a son of Erick K. and 
Ino-er (Xelson) Slattcii, who were also natives 
of the same kingdoni. His mother died 
when he was four years old, and at the age 
of seven he commenced life for himself, liy 
herdinsr cattle, and a.s soon as he was old 
enough he worked as a farm hand. In 1868 
he came to this country, and woiked for 
three years for a farmer in Dane county, 
Wisconsin. He then came to Pope county, 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



Minnesota, and took a homestead on section 
18, Nora township, where he has since lived. 
In 1877 he took a tree claim on the same 
section as his homestead, and adjoining it. 

Our subject was married March 22, 1809, 
to Miss Anna Knuteson, a daughter of Knute 
and Mary (Olson) Holverson, who are na- 
tives of Norway. They have been blessed 
with the following children — Erick, Knute, 
Inger, Sophia, Julia, Henry, Mary and Em- 
ma. 

Mr. Skogen lost two crops by "hoppers," 
and one by hail, also has lost a great many 
cattle by sickness. He now has a good 
house, which he has lately built, and a valu- 
able fai'ui ; has a good herd of cattle, and is 
in comfoi'table circumstances. He and his 
family are members of the Lutheran Church. 
He is now road overseer, and is a republican 
in his political views. 



^[eLS N. BARSNESS, one of the most 
?^ prominent men of Earsness township, 
is a resident of section 28. He was born in 
Norway at Bergan Stadt, on the 22il of May, 
1835. Nels remained at home until 1861, 
when he came to this country. He served 
three 3'ears in the army in the old country, 
and then hired a substitute for the remaining 
time of two years. Settling in Dane county^ 
AVisconsin, he enlisted in the army in Com- 
]iany H, Twenty -seventh Wisconsin Infantr\', 
in July, 1862, and served until August 1, 
1805, when he was honoi'ably discharged at 
Brownsville. Texas. He was with his I'egi- 
ment all tlirou^'h tlieir long- and difficult 
service, ami participated in a great many of 
the hard-fought Ijattles and expeditions 
under Grant. lie still owns the musket 
which he carried tlirougii the war. Mi-. 
Itarsness enlisted under the name of Nels 
Nelson, by which he was known until 1871), 



when his name was changed to Nels N. 
Barsness b}' an act of the Legislature. 

After being mustered out of the service, 
our subject returned to Dane county, "Wis- 
consin, and i-emained there about a month 
when he went to Stillwater, Minnesota, and 
worked in the pinerj' and on the river. In 
April, 1866, he came to Pope county, Min- 
nesota, and took a homestead on section 28, 
Barsness township, after which he returned 
to Stillwater, and ran two rafts down the 
river. That fall he returned to his home- 
stead and remained on it until the next 
spring, when he again went into the pineries 
and on the river. After three years' absence 
he returned to his claim, where he has been 
ever since. 

Mr. Barsness was married December 25, 
1868, to Betsey Olson, and they have been 
blessed with the following children — Alfred 
M., Anna Josephine, Nellie, Olea. Jessie, 
Andreana, Johanna, Nels, Ole, Tilda, Boleta. 
Our subject has held numerous important 
offices in his township, as constable, chair- 
man of supervisors, two terms; school clerk, 
director, road overseer, etc. 



^JV, LANSON J JUDKINS, one of the well- 
jP=^ to-do farmers of section 3-1-, "West- 
port township, came to Pope county in 
August, 1866, and in October, 1867, settled 
wheie he now lives. He took a homestead 
and improved the same in the usual way, 
besides planting a goodly number of trees, 
which have come to be beautiful in their 
appearance and valuable as a windbreak. 
The varieties of trees are box elder, soft 
maple, willow and ash. They have been 
raised from the seed, and many of them are 
now as large as a man's body. 

Ml'. Judkins was born in Somerset county, 
Maine. August 15, 1828. His parents were 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



353 



Jodediali and Martha (Lane) Judkins, na- 
tives of Maine. The father died in 1879, in 
Pope county, ^riiinosota, to wliich l(jcation 
lie came in October, ISfiT. Tiie mother 
makes her liomc witli oui- subject. They 
were farmei's in Maine, until our subject was 
about fiftoen 3'ears old, when the lather 
labored in a saw-mill, and at liinilM'ring bus- 
iness. After the marriage of the parents 
they renujved to Piscacataquis county, Maine, 
where their family remained some years. 

Mr. Judkins came with his brother, Edwin 
II.. who remained until 1ST7 on a farm in 
Pope county. He was assessor of Westport 
township, and took an active part in public 
affairs. 

Our subject was the third in his father's 
family, and the oldest son now living. The 
children were — Alanson, Hannah, Solomon. 
Emiline and Frank — these are still living-. 
Those deceased were — Rebecca, who mar- 
ried Asher Tliiuls and died in 1852 in New 
York, leaving one child, C. C. Hinds ; Mar^' 
nuii'ried Timothy Bunker (she died in 1SS2, 
leaving two children — Leon and Mary). 

Up to the age of twenty-two \'ears, Mr. 
Judkins worked (when not otherwise em- 
ployed or at school) in a blast furnace in the 
Katahdon iron woi-ks, in Maine. He tiien 
spent two years at the lumbering business 
at New Hudson, New York. He then spent 
six years in McKean county, Pennsylvania, 
at the same occupation. The next four 
years of his life he spent in Adams county, 
Wisconsin, at farming. lJ])on leaving "Wis- 
consin, he went to Pope county, ilinnesota, 
ami tii-ihiy is one of the oldest settlers, there 
only Ijeing two or three families on the east 
side of the townslii[), when \\v. canic; here. 

Mr. Jiiilkins was married in the month of 
Fei>riiarv, 1S.")S. to ^liss .Malisse Judkins, also 
a native of Maine. They w(M-e married in 
Pennsylvania, at a point in McKean county. 
She is the daughtei- of David Judkins, being 
liic third in tin- family. Mr. anil Mrs. Jud- 



kins have a family of fourchildren — Edwin 
Mark, Nettie M., Guy Benjamin and AVilmar 
Francis. The children are all single, and 
live at home. Marv is a teacher, havino; lin- 
ished her education at Sauk Center, in 1888. 
Mr. Judkins is a republican in his ])olitical 
belief, and is a worthy member of the ila- 
sonic fraternity. In school matters he is act- 
ive, and has been director of school district 
No. 15 since 1887. He has always taken an 
active interest in public affairs, and he has 
been prominently identified with the growth 
and development of the northeastern part of 
the county ever since the days of its first 
settlement. 



^.^^ 



«^- 



MILS M. LIEN, one of the prominent 
and representative farmers of Lang- 
hei township, resides on section (I, where he 
carries on farming and stock-i'aisine:, and, 
during the pro[)er season, operates a horse- 
power threshing machine, which he owns 
jointly with Erick and Ole Lien, A. Avok 
and Arne Benson. . 

Mr. Lien was born in the central ))art of 
Norway, on the 12th of July, 1855, and is a 
son of Michael and Mary Olson. He grew 
to manhood in the land of his birth, and, in 
1876. the family came to the United States, 
landing in New York City. For a time they 
lived in "Wabasha county, Minnesota. In 
1876, they came to Pojie county, and settled 
near the town line, between Langhei and 
Blue Mounds townships. Our subject has 
since lived here, and been prominently iden- 
tified with the growth and development of 
that portion of the county. He now owns 
;^60 acres of land, and is in very good cir- 
cumstances, having comfortaltle imjirove- 
ments. and his farm is under a high state of 
cultivation. Mr. Lien has always taken a 
commendable interest in public aiul educa- 
tional alfairs, and has held a number of local 



354 



POPE COU.VTY. MINNESOTA. 



offices, having been at different times school 
treasurer, and is now one of the township 
supervisors. In his j'outh he received an 
excellent practical education, and is classed 
among tlie best posted and most intelligent 
farmers in the count}'. 

Mr. Lien was married. June 8, 1883, to 
Miss Mary Gilbertson. She is a native of 
the same part of Norway as her luisband, 
and came to the United States, in 1881, with 
a brotlier and sister. Their marriage has 
been blessed witli tliree children — Mar\', 
(4ilnuin and Michael. The family are ex- 
emplai'v members of the Lutheran Church, 
and are held in high esteem by all. 

In ])olitical nuitters Mr. Lien is a su])portei' 
of tiie principles of the republican party. 
Mr. Lien's parents are still living. His 
father has been a farmer all through life, 
altliougii, when young, he learned the shoe- 
maker's trade, and followed that trade in 
connection with agricultural pursuits. 



/^^RS. MARIA HALL, a resident of the 
jir\^'&%^ village of Chippewa Falls, is a na- 
tive of Northfield, Vermont, wliere she was 
born on the 16th of April, 1849. Her par- 
ents, Azro and Nancy Heath were natives of 
Vermont and New Hampshire. The parents 
were married at Northfield, Vermont, Feb- 
ruary 21, 1847. They lived in Vermont dur- 
ing their lives, with the exception of two 
years s])ent in New Hampshire, and both died 
in Vermont. The father died July 29, 1879, 
and the mother in April, 1881. They were cit- 
izens of the highest Christian character, and 
were held in high esteem in the community 
in which they lived, both being exemplary 
members of the^Iethodist Ejiiscopal Church. 
The parents had a, family of four children — 
Zenas, Maria, Lizzie and Edward. The first 
named died in infancy, and the rest are still 
living. 



Mrs. Hall was educated at Northfield, Ver- 
mont, and on the 11th of October, 1868. was 
married to Kendal Hall. Her husband was 
a son of Beijjamin Hall, and was born in 
August, 18-40, at Moretown, Vermont, where 
he was raised and educated. He was a farmer 
through life and died at his native town in 
1876. His death resulted from heart disease, 
and took place while he was on a load of hay. 
By their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hall became 
the parents of four children — George, Fred, 
Jessie and Josie. George died in infancy; 
Fred died in 1879, aged seven years; Jessie 
lives at home and Josie is in Vermont. In 1885 
Mrs. Hall came to Pope county, Minnesota, 
and settled at the village of Chijtpewa Falls, 
whei'e she still lives. She is a lady of refine- 
ment, an active and zealous member of the 
Methodist Church and holds the respect and 
esteem of all. 



^^EORGE FREDERICK, the subject of 
\^^ the present article, is a well known 
and highly respected farmer, residing on sec- 
tion 24, Reno township. He was born in 
Orange county, New York, January 30, 
1849, and is a son of Francis and Jane (Rake) 
Frederick. The father was a native of 
Orange county. New York, while the mother 
was born in England, but was bi'ought to the 
ITnited States when only four years of age. 
They were married in New York State, and 
at an early day came to Minnesota, settling at 
Shakopee. St. Paul was a mere village at 
that early day. and tlie pioneers were obliged 
to undei'go many hardshi])s and disadvan- 
tages. The mother died when our subject 
was only eight years of age. The father 
was an active and {)rominent man in his day. 
Shortl}' after the war broke out he enlisted 
and went into the Union army, serving from 
1862 until 1864, when he was honorably dis- 
charged. He is stiU living, being now blind, 



POPE COUNTY. MINNESOTA 



355 



and makes his home with his son, George. 
Tiie parents had a family of eleven children, 
seven of wiioni arc liviiiff, as follows — CTCorcrc, 
Elizabeth, Wilhnrt, Ilattic, Charles and Etiic. 

George Fredcriclc. wliosc name heads this 
article, spent his school days in I'lMiiisyl- 
vaniaand Shakopee, ^Minnesota, linishing his 
scliooling at the latter place when sixteen 
years of a<;e. lie then learned the trade of 
an engineer, and followed that occupation 
for about seven years, being employed prin- 
cipally in Todd and Pope counties. lie then 
settled in Keno township, Tope county, and 
since that time has been engaged in farming 
and stock-raising. 

i\rr. Frederick was married in ls74 to Miss 
Elizabeth Bryce, a native of Canada and a 
daughter of William Bryce. Their union 
has l)een blessed with five children — Francis, 
Ilattie, Emma, George and Jennie. The 
family are members of the Episcopal Church. 

In political matters Mr. Frederick supports 
the ])i'inciples and canditlates of the demo- 
cratic ])arty. lie liasaUvays taken an active 
interest in public matters and since 1884- has 
held the ottice of township treasurer. 



JTOHN C. STALKER, one of the thorough- 
f^ going and successful farmers of (ilen- 
wood to\vnshi]i, lives on a fine farm on sec- 
tion 6. He is a native of Madison county, 
New York, was born January 19, 1836. He 
is the son of James and Ann (Christa) 
Stalker, who were natives of Scotland. 
They came to Canada in 1835, and fr<ini 
there to the State of New York. The lather 
was by trade a mason, and in 1865 came to 
^Minneapolis, for his health, but received no 
help, and died, in September, 1866. The 
mother died at Westport, Pope county, Min- 
nesota, in 1S82. They had four children, 
three of whom are still living— John C, 
Mary, Mrs. Alexander and James E. 



Our subject, when a boy, worked on a 

farm and in woolen mills, generally in com- 
panv with his father, lie received a trood 
common school education by tiie time he 
was fourteen years old, at wiiicli time he 
worked out on a farm, a?nl continued so to 
do until 1863. In December of that year he 
enlisted in Company " !,,"' Eleventh New 
York Cavalry. lie served nineteen months 
and was on detached duty, taking care of 
the sick, under Dr. Charles Gray. After 
his army service, he returned an invalid, by 
reason of which he could do no hard labor 
for three years. lie came to Minneai)olis, 
Minnesota, and soon commenced work in 
the woolen mills, remaining there until 1868, 
and then came to Pope county, and took up 
a homestead upon which he still remains. 

Ml'. Stalker was married, December 3, 1854. 
to Miss Mary J. McCiill, daughter of John 
and Sarah ,1. (Crawford) McGill, natives of 
Ireland and Scotland. Mr. Stalker has a 
family of five children, three now living — 
Francis A., now Mrs. L. J. Thomas (who is 
the mother of five living children — Victoria, 
John, Ann, Myrtil and Edith); Mar}', now 
Mrs. F. Churchill (has one child — Jennie C); 
and Lena, now Mrs. W. Lilienthal (has one 
son — John). 

The subject of this sketch, Mr. Stalker, is 
a staunch republican. lie belongs to the 
Masonic fraternitv, and is a member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. 



*-^^ 



IToHN CAMPBELL, one of the most prom- 
^ inent eai'ly settlers in the northern ])art 
of the county, is engaged in farming and 
stock-raising on section 13, Reno townslii)). 
He was born on the loth of May, 1844, and 
is a son of Clark and Nancy Townsend. The 
mother was from Ireland, although lier par- 
ents were English, while the father was of 
Scotch extraction. The father dietl in Ire- 



356 



rOPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



land, while our subject was very youno-. 
There were ten children in the family of the 
parents. In 1857 the family came to the 
United States, and settled in Kandolph 
county, Illinois, where John Campbell, our 
subject, grew to manhood and received his 
education. There they were Uving when the 
Civil War broke out, and, on the 1st of 
Ano-ust, 1802, John enlisted in the Eightieth 
Illinois Infantry, and went into the service, 
being mustered in at Camp Centralia. He 
was in the front during all the balance of the 
war, and saw very haril and active service. 
He participated, besides many skirmishes, 
in about twenty-two pitched battles, the fol- 
lowing being a list of the most important — 
Mission Eidge, Lookout Mountain, Atlanta, 
Nashville, Franklin, Resaca, Dallas, Pine 
Mountain, liocky Face, Peach Tree Creek 
and others. Mr. Cara])bell served in the 
Army of the Cumberland. He was finally 
mustered out, July 10, 1865, near Nashville, 
Tennessee, but did not receive his dischai^ge 
until July of that year. He then returned 
to Illinois, and a short time later came to 
Pope county, Minnesota, and settled in what 
is now Reno township. He was one of the 
earliest settlers hei-e, there being only two or 
three in the township at that time. When 
he got here the first house in Sauk Center 
was just being erected. Game, including 
elk, deer, and even buff'alo, was plenty. 
Times were hard during the first few years, 
as it was a long distance to markets, and the 
settlers had to contend with many hardships 
and disadvantages. In 1866 Mr. Cam))bell 
hauled the lumber and shingles for the first 
house erected in what is now Glen wood, 
which was built by Kinney & Lathrop. 
Indians were numerous in early days, and 
would frequently call at the cabins of the 
pioneers for provisions. Upon his arrival 
here Mr. Campbell first located a claim on 
sections 12 and 13, where he lived for six 
years. He then removed to a farm on sec- 



tions 2 and 3. Four years later he went to 
AVilhnar, where he remained for two years, 
running a meat market. At the expiration 
of that time he came back to Reno township. 
Pope County, and located on section 13, 
where he still lives. He now owns one of 
the best farms in the township, comprising 
290 acres, a good share of which is under a 
high state of cultivation. In connection 
with farming he devotes a good deal of at- 
tention to stock-raising, and has a nunil)er of 
fine graded animals. 

Mr. Campbell was married Se])tember 2, 
1869, to Miss Mary E. McMillan, and they 
became the parents of eight children — Mary 
A., Anna J.. Robert C, Agnes E., ]\Iartha E., 
James J., Francis L. and David II. Mrs. 
Cam])bell was born in Ran(lol[)h county, Illi- 
nois, where she was raised and educated. 
Her father, Robert McMillan, died here, De- 
cember 13, 1886. 



■^^ 



O. ROE, while not a resident of Pope 
[i(\.. county, deserves more than jiassing 
notice in a volume devoted to Po]ie county 
and vicinity, as he is well and favorablj' 
known throughout the eastern tier of town- 
ships as a business man of integrity, and one 
who has for a number of years been inti- 
mately identified with the growth and devel- 
opment of this locality. At the present 
writing he is engaged in the mercantile lousi- 
ness at Brooten, in Stearns county, and is 
doing a successful and extensive trade. Mr. 
Roe was born in Norway, but when he was 
a year old his parents came to the United 
States, and located in Wisconsin. Later they 
came to Minnesota and settled in Dodge 
county, where his father is still living. Until 
he was twenty-one years of age our subject 
aided in carrying on the fai-m and also at- 
tended school. He supplemented his educa- 
tion with a course at the College in Decorah 




POPE COUiVTY, MINNESOTA. 



357 



;iml tlicii lit'gaii lil'e on liis own iR'Coinit. In 
ISTt! lio came to Stoanis county, Minnesota, 
and settled on section 5, Lake (Tcoi'ge town- 
ship, where lie was engaged in farming for 
about live years. He then engaged in the 
mercantile business, which he has followed 
ever since. For two years he also handled 
agricultui'ai implements and for one year he 
ran a grocery store in Hangoi' township, but 
he finally settled at l'i'(joten, whei'o \\n now 
find liiin. He is a careful business man, and 
liis honoi'able dealings have secured him an 
extensive trade. 

i[r. Tvoe is a republican in political mat- 
ters and is a member of the Lutheran 
Church. He has always taken a. ])rominent 
and active part in all public and educational 
matters, and has held a number of the more 
important local offices, such as justice of the 
peace, school treasurer, assessor, etc. Mr. 
Roe has two brothers and one sister. The 
sister is now the wife of Ole T. Gulberg, a 
farmer in Olmsted countv, Minnesota. 



^««i 



^^►^ 



[.■•v\ANlEL A. BARTKE,r,ow a farmer liv- 
liiy ing on section 2, township 125, range 
38, is a native of Prussia, born August 8, 
1832. His parents were Michael and Emma 
Bartke. well-to-do farmers, upon 300 acres o, 
land. Their children were David, Michael, 
Daniel A., Christian and Emma Bartke. 
The father was an old soldier ; was taken in 
the wars then I'aging against >i'ai>oleon Bona- 
parte, when only twelve years old; served 
with distinction for forty years; was pro- 
UKjted for gallantry to captain's rank, and 
was discharged as a pensioner. He gave 
his children all unusually good educations. 
The children all now remain in various occu- 
pations in the old fatherland. Daniel A. 
Bartke alone having wandered to the foreign 
shores of America. He huuleil at Oastle 
Garden August 22, 1856, and hired out to 



woi'k on the farm for Jacob Smith near 
Oyster Bay, about fortv miles from New 
York City, working there until Api-il 1, 
1857. He then emigrated to St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, and hired as a clerk in a general mer- 
chandise establishment, and went to school, 
remaining there until 1S5!). He then emi- 
gi'ated to Wabasha county, ilinncsota. and 
engaged in farming, finally clerking in a 
store again for A. AV. Lathrop, at a place 
known as Watkins' Valley. Ho renuiined 
there until 1862. The American Civil War 
was then in full rage. His father was a 
soldier, all of his brothers then remaining in 
the old country were soldiers; the object of 
his coming to this country, single and alone, 
was to escape the militarv service. Here, 
without force or draft, he quit his peacealjle 
occupation, went down to Clayton county, 
Iowa, and August 16, 1SG2, enlisted as 
a ])rivate in Company E, Twenty-sev(!nth 
Iowa Infantry, for three years, or during 
the war. His military service began at 
Cam)) Franklin, Dubucpie, Iowa. The regi- 
ment was recruited in the Third Congi-es- 
sional District of Iowa. The field officers 
were: Colonel, James I. Gilbert; Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel, Jed Lake ; Major, George W. 
Howard. Company E. Officers: Captain, 
Thouuis G. Drips ; First Lieutenant. T. Al- 
len Olmsted ; Second Lieutenant, Samuel 
Benjamin. Muster and drill lasted until 
October, 1862, when the regiment received 
orders to report to Major General Pojie, at 
St. Paul, Minnesota, for duty ; reporting Oct- 
ober 11, 1862, went to camp at Fort Snell- 
ing, Minnesota. On October IT, 1862, Col- 
onel Gilbert, with six companies. A, B, C, 
E, F and G, moved out at once, made a rapid 
march in compliance with orders toward 
Millsac's, some 125 miles northwest, to 
superintend an Indian payment, leaving 
Major Howard in charge of the other four 
companies. The exi>edition was a hard one. 
There was a fonnation of ice on tlic Kuni 



358 



POPE COUXTY. iMINA'PSOTA. 



River, wliich tliey waded three times, nearly 
shoulder deep; returned to Fort Snelling 
November 4, lSfi2 ; found Major Howard 
witli his ti'oops gone in obedience of orders 
to Cairo, Illinois, where they followed him. 
A few days later, the command was ordei'ed 
to Memphis, Tennessee, where, on November 
20, 18fi2, rei)orted to Major-General W. T. 
Sherman for (kity. Mr. Bartke furnishes us 
the following recital : November 25, 1862, we 
joined the army. Sherman's troops counted 
60,000, and Grant's 80,000, all in one body, 
moving toward the enemy under Price and 
Pemberton, who were strongly entrenched 
on Tallahatchie Kiver, below "Waterford. 
Mississippi, our base of supplies being Holly 
Springs, Mississippi. Enemies seeing the 
Federals coming, right then and there ran 
for their lives toward Vicksburg, and left the 
Union men to guard the old fortifications, rail- 
roads, and everything else that they could not 
take along in such a luirry. The Twenty-sev- 
enth Iowa at the time, being armed with the 
old Prussian musket, therefore they received 
this post of honor. December 20, 1862, 
Yan Dorn captured and burned Holly 
Spiings, in close proximity to them, Init did 
not dare to attack ; the Union men ran after 
him but could not catch cavalry. The base 
of supplies being burnt, Grant and Sherman 
returned, and the regiment marched on the 
30th of December, 1862, and reported to 
Colonel M. K. Lawler, commanding post at 
Jackson, Tennessee, remaining on forced 
march for three da3^s until joined by General 
Sullivan in the fight with the rebel, Forrest, 
at Lexington Cross Roads, Tennessee, where 
over 600 prisoners wei-e taken, and a forced 
march was kept up until reaching Clifton, on 
the Tennessee River, where Forrest, with the 
balance of his troops, escaped aci'oss the river. 
On this march the Aveather was very inclem- 
ent ; troops had no blankets ; there were no 
rations issued ; the roads were hori-ibly bad, 
and when the ti'oo])s returned to Jackson, 



Tennessee, they left the biggest grave-yard 
of their three years' service: here, for a lonof 
time, the surgeons' call was attended h\ 
more men than the dress parade. The regi- 
ment remained on jirovost guard duty until 
April, 1863, when it moved to Corinth, Mis- 
sissip])i, to hold that post during temporary 
absence of General Dodge's forces, returning 
to Jackson May 1. 1863; remained durinja: 
about one month guarding i-ailroads, for a 
long distance, and doing provost duty at 
Jackson, post bemg under command of 
James I. Gilbert. June 4, 1863 — regiment 
moved to LaG range, Tennessee, then to 
Moscow, Tennessee, where it again guarded 
the railroad for two and a half months. 
August 20, 1863 — regiment marched to Mem- 
phis, Tennessee; thence by trans])orts to 
Helena, Arkansas; thence August 28, 1863, to 
Clarendon ; thence to Brownsville, where it 
joined General Steel's forces, and participated 
in the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas, on 
September 10,1863. November 15— command 
moved to DuVall's Bluffs, thence by trans- 
ports to Memphis, Tennessee, reporting to 
Major-General S. A. Hurlbut, commanding 
Sixteenth Army Corps, and went into camp 
south of the city for guard and picket duty. 
Casualties of regiment for 1863: Loss by 
death, 64-: discharged for disability, 108; 
transferred to invalid corps, 16; deserters, 
4, and picked up b\'-the road, 4 recruits. 

January 26, 1864 — moved b}^ transports to 
Vicksburg, Mississippi; was brigaded with 
Fourteenth and One Hundred and Thirt}'- 
second Iowa, Twenty-fourth Missouri and 
Third Indiana Battery, numbereil as Second 
Brigade, Third Division Sixteenth Army 
Corps. February' 3, 1864 — General Sher- 
man, in command Sixteenth and Sev- 
enteenth Army Corps, started his march 
to Meridian, Mississippi. Skirmishing was 
kept up from Big Black River clear up to 
Meridian, but no general engagement; went 
via Jackson, Mississippi; returned via Canton 



rOPE COUNTY, Mr.ViVF.SOTA 



359 



to Vicksburg, Mississippi, ilarch 4, 1864 — 
aftor few days rest Third Division, under 
comnittnd of A. J. Smith, moved by trans- 
ports to take part in the Red lliver expedition 
under General Banks. General Sniitli's com- 
mand reached Simms]iort, on tlie Atchafalaya 
River. March 12, lSt)4. Rebel General Scurry 
was entrenched at Fort Morgan with 1,500 
men, wliom we drove out, enemy running to 
reinforce Fort De Russey, thirty mih's dis- 
J;ant, on the Retl River. On tiiis niarcli 
Twenty-seventh Iowa was in advance, skir- 
mishing tlie whole distance; arrived at the 
fort and stormed tiie most impregnable fort 
west of the Mississi[)pi River except Vicks- 
burg; capturetl 240 pi'isoners and twelve 
siege guns formerly belonging to United 
States shi])s,(^)ueen of the West and Indianola; 
moved witliout delaj- to Alexandria, Louisiana 
where they joined with General Banks' forces; 
command moved toward Shreveport, Louis- 
iana, by way Cotiie Landing, tigliting all the 
way; readied Grand Ecore, April 4, 1S64; gun- 
boats and transports were sent up the river, 
army moved. A]iril 5th, toward Pleasant 
llill. Louisiana, Tiiirteentli Armj- Cor[)s in ad- 
vance, then Nineteenth Army Corps, then the 
Third Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, which 
moved on April 7, lStJ4. On Aj)ril Slh 
the struggles began; General Ranks met 
witii a serious repulse at Mansfield, liis 
lrooi)s were Heeing to the rear, and next 
mornint; Colonel Shaw, commanding our 
brigade, was ordered to tlie front; Ranks' 
troo])s were now I'ctiied and tiie enemy was 
advancing. Hardly had the troops g(jt into 
position when the enemy opened upon us the 
most bloody fight of the war. For seven 
lonely iiours the retriment and brigade were 
engaged with the enemy at close range ; and 
although our losses were enoinious, we 
(lid wliat Ma jor General Hurlbut gave us 
credit for: '"Rolled back the tide of dis- 
astrous l)attle on Pleasant Hill, and un- 
doubtedly saved Banks' army from a double 



defeat, if not from annihilation." In looking 
at that battle from a standpoint of actual ob- 
servation, it would seem that General Banks, 
alarmed at the disaster of the preceding day, 
had concluded that some portion of the arm}' 
must be sacrificed for the preservation of tiie 
remainder, and, the grim old Colonel Shaw, 
with his Iowa brigade, was selected 
as a victim. Yet the old Shaw, with 
a command of less than one tenth of 
the force in the field, met with fully one-half 
of the entii'e loss of tiie day — nearly one- 
third in killed antl wouiuled of hiscomiiKUui ; 
but he saved the army, gained the day, 

I victory was ours, covered the retreat of the 
wliole army that night and the next day to 
Grande Ecore. Command arrived at Alex- 
andria April 20, 1864. General Smith's forces 
covered the rear all the way. On the last 
day of April Colonel Shaw and General Mower 
moved out to Governor Moore's plantation, 
and was engaged with the enemy for ten 
consecutive days. May 13 — Alexandria was 
burned, including all the property in cotton 
and sugar accumulated by General Banks, 
the evacuation and retreat was successfully 
conducted down the river to Simmspoi't, the 
o-unboats having successfully crossed the 
rapids, with the exce])tion of "Eastport," 

I which was blown u]i. At Marksville the 
enemy ap])eared in force, and (juile an engage- 
ment foi' three hours ensued. The enemy 
were whi]iped and retreated ; regiment suf- 
fered no loss. On the l>^th day of May, 
1864, the liattle of Bayou de (Jlaize or Yellow 
Bayou was fought. The regiment iiere was 
for five hours under heavy artillery and 
musketry fire ; our loss was not severe, yet 

i the victory was great, and proveti to be more 
com|)lete than was at that time supposed; 
many hundred prisonei's were taken, and 
rebel authorities afterward acknowledgeti 
that, in the numi)ei's engaged, it was tiie 
most severe defeat they had ever su.s- 
tained west of the Mississippi River. On 



36o 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



the 19th clay of Miij% closed an expedition 
of five or six weeks' duration with scarcely a 
day where the roar of artillery and musketry 
was not heard. May 20 — Regiment em- 
barked on the transports toward Vicksburg, 
arriving there May 2ith. On June 4, 1864, 
regiment took part to dislodge the enemy 
from a strong position taken near Lake 
Chicot, Ai'kansas, wiiere lieavy batteries were 
planted, Idockading the Mississippi River. 
After marciiing through drenching rain, June 
Gth, the battle was fouglit, and enemy badly 
wiiipped, left us victorious on this occasion 
to everything they had here. The regi- 
ment then moved by transports to Memphis, 
Tennessee; rest for the weary was very 
much needed, but here there was no rest. 

On the 24th of June, 1864, the regiment 
joined in the Tupelo expedition, under brave 
Major-General A. J. Smith. It moved by 
cars to Moscow, thence marching to La 
Grange, Tennessee. On July 5th it set out 
on the march southward, with a general 
understanding tliat it was our task to meet, 
engage and whij) Forrest with his command, 
wiiicli I'ecently had become fluslied by the 
victory attained over Sturgis and his com- 
mantl but a few weeks previous. The 
men suffered much from the burning July 
sun, nevertheless the command made a good 
marcli, skii-misiiing witli the enemy almost 
continually after leaving Tallahatchie River, 
driving them to Pontotoc, when the com- 
mand rested one ilay. and then made a ra])id 
jnarch cast to Tupelo. On July 13th the 
enemy attacked us several times in front 
and ilank, but was nniformlj^ repulsed. On 
the night of the 13th the command received 
orders to camp in line of battle, and ever}'- 
tliing was put in readiness to receive the 
anticipated attack of the enemy in the morn- 
ing. General A. J. Smith maneuvered so 
that Forrest was obliged to come out of his 
str(jng fortiiication and fight him on his 
own chosen "i-round. The battle commenced 



6 A. M. and lasted until noon, when the 
rebels gave way in confusion. ISTever, prob- 
ably, was there a greater disparity in killed 
and wounded upon an open fair field fight. 
Our loss was comparatively light, while the 
enemy, repulsed in several distinct chai-ges, 
left the ground litei'ally strewn with killed 
and wounded. The enemy then attempted 
a night attack, but were hanilsomely met 
and I'epulsed by the troops on the 
left. The regiment slept on their arms 
that night, and on the 15th marched to 
Old Town Creek, and when we were just 
commencing to get supper, the enemy opened 
a brisk fire upon us ; the regiment was or- 
dered on double quick in line. Colonel Gil- 
bert's brigade formed their line under heavy 
artillery and musketry fire, but we did do it 
in a hurry and moved forward splendidlj^ 
over two rail fences, through two deep 
muddy streams, and a skirt of thick brush- 
wood, when it came full upon the rebel line, 
a large cornfield intervening, the ground as- 
cending all the way toward the enemy. 
The order was now given to charge the 
enemy and fire advancing. The regiment 
opened a rapid fire, and pressed forward up 
the hill, yelling and tiring, rapidly neai'ing 
the rebel line, which finally broke, we j)ur- 
suing them. They attempted to make a sec- 
ond stantl in the timber some little distance 
in their rear. But, however, they were unable 
to resist our line, and finally gave way in 
confusion, leaving their ilead and most of 
their wounded in our hands and on the 
field. That afternoon was intensely hot, 
but the men behaved with woudei-ful endui'- 
ance, and most commendable gallantry. 
Again this night the regiment laid on their 
arms, then resumed march toward La 
Gi'ano'e, arriving- there Julv 21st, thence 
marched to Collierville and thence by cars to 
Memi)his, Tennessee, arriving July 23d, where 
we rested for a few days. On the 4th day 
of August the regiment marched to Oxiord, 



POPE COUXTY, MINNESOTA. 



361 



Mississippi, under General A. J. Smith, and 
had askinnisli with tlie enemy near Tallahat- 
chie Eiver without engagement; returned to 
Holly Springs, Mississippi, August 26th, 
thence to Memphis, Tennessee, .arriving Aug- 
ust 30, ISGJr, for a few days' rest. 

September 5, 1861 — The regiment moved 
by transport to Cairo, Illinois,thence to Jeffer- 
son barracks, Missouri, arriving Scpteml)er 
ItUh. September 25tli — Regiment moved to 
Mineral Point, Missouri, to meet the rebel 
forces advancing under Price. After some 
skirmisiiing at that place the regiment was 
ordered back to DeSoto, Missouri, and thence 
a£rain to Jefferson barracks, ^[issouri. Octo- 
ber 2nd — "With other forces, the regiment 
started out in pursuit of Price upon a forced 
march tiirough Kirkwood, Gray Summit. 
Union, Jefferson City, Otterville, Sedalia, 
Georgetown, Lexington and Independence, 
striking Kansas line at Little Santa Fe, and 
returned through Harrisonville, Pleasant 
llill, Lexington, Glasgow, Columbia, Waren- 
ton and St. Charles, arriving at St. Louis, 
Missouri, November 18th, ha\nng made a 
forced march of 700 miles in fort3'-seven 
days. November 25th — Eegiment again mov- 
ed under General xV. J. Smith to Cairo, Illinois, 
thence to Nashville, Tennessee, arriving No- 
ventberSOth. December 1st— Regiment was 
ordered to advance in line of l)attle three 
miles from the city, took position on the ex- 
treme left of the forces, and on the right 
under General A. J. Smith ; we i)uilt foi'tifi- 
cations, but did not use them. (General Hood 
knew better than to attack us there. De- 
cember 1.5th — General Thomas ordered ad- 
vance upon rebel fortilicalions. Genei'al A. 
J. Smith's forces were assigned the dut\' to_ 
make the real attack upon the rebels' left, 
which was most signally successful. The 
regiment here was a ])ivot of General Smith's 
advancing line, which swung around upon 
the enemy, doubling up the enemy's left 
flank and capturing every fortification in 



our front, with several lines of works, 
and several hundreds of prisoners. The 
men lay down for the night in line of 
battle, jubilant over the victory of the 
day, and eager to strike a finishing blow on 
the morrow ; regiment moved with the 
main advance line, on the morning of the 
10th, and wei-e ver^' soon under a severe 
artillery fire direct from its front. This was 
a good test of its discipline, and it bore it 
admirably, advancing rapidly, but steadily, 
until ordered to halt within a few hundred 
\ards of the rebel batteries, then moving 
some distance by the right flank, where it 
held, for several hours, a position a few hun- 
dred 3'ards, in immediate front of the rebel 
fortified line, when Colonel Gilbert ordered 
his brigade forward, to charge the rebel 
works. The regiment sprang instantly to 
the deadly work, and none on that part of 
the line were sooner in the rebel intrench- 
ments; for this excellent conduct, besides 
good conduct on other fields of battle. 
Colonel James I. Gilbert, was pi-omoted 
Brigadier General. On the morning of the 
17th of December the regiment marched 
without blankets or overcoats, in pursuit of 
the routed and demoralized enemy, passing 
through Columbia to Pulaski, thence via 
Lawrenceburg to Clifton, on the Tennessee 
River, arriving Januarv 2, 1865. This march 
was connected with many hardships, on ac- 
count of very bad weather, and no clothing 
and no rations, hunger and fatigue was our 
lot. January 4th — Per transports, we moved 
to Eastport, Mississippi, called by nickname 
the Camp of Starvation, remaining there 
until February S, 1865 ; madeareconnoissance 
to luka, Mississippi. February 9 — Regiment 
embarked on transports, toward New Orleans, 
thence, March 7th, across the Gulf to Dau- 
phins Island, Mobile Bay ; debarked March 
Sth, under command of General Canley. 
ilarch 20 — The regiment moved by trans- 
ports across the bay to Fish River, ascending 



362 



POPE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



there some twenty-five miles, then Sixteenth 
and Thirteenth Army Corps marched north 
to Sibley's Mill, skirmishing all the way as 
we advanced ; here the troops divided, part 
going to Forts Spanish and Allexis. Our 
regiment remained, holding the flank ap- 
proach to our army now investing those 
forts, until April 2nd, when it was sent with 
General Gilbert's brigade on a reconnoissance 
of effect! iiH' communication with General 
Steele, and investing Fort Blakeley. This 
march was very serious on account of the 
torpedoes ; General Gilbert and staff ex- 
ploded a sixty-four pound shell, killing two 
horses, and giving close call to themselves. 
The command with General Garrard's divi- 
sion, on the next day, moved up to the left of 
General Steele, who had commenced to be- 
siege the rebel works at Blakeley. The regi- 
ment took prominent part, and did excellent 
service in the skirmish and intrench line, 
wherein advances were made, saps dug during 
night and day under continuous tire from both 
artillery and musketry of the enemy, which 
lasted until April 9th, when the boldest, 
wildest and most successful charge of the 
war was made. General Gilbert's brigade 
captured eight pieces of heav\' artillery and 
600 prisoners. General Garrard's division 
here captured t\vent\'-four pieces of heavy ar- 
tillery and 1,900 prisoners. General James 
I. Gilbert was again recommended for promo- 
tion, and our brigade was assigned the honor 
of garrisoning the fort. April 12th — We were 
relieved, and, with Sixteenth Army Corps, 
moved toward Montgomery, Alabama, a dis- 
tance of about 200 miles, which place was 
reached April 27th. 

During our three years' service we moved 
around, by various ways, 12,025 miles, and 
the regiment retained the glorious record 
that it has never been driven, has never 
turned its back upon the enemy or foe, and 
its colors have been unfurled before the en- 
emy at Little Rock and Lake Chicot 



Arkansas, at Fort De Eussey, Pleasant Hill, 
Cluteerville, INLarksville and Yellow Bayou, 
Louisiana, at Tupelo and Old Town Creek, 
Mississippi, at Nashville, Tennessee, and 
at Mohile defenses, Alabama, and at no 
time was furled until victory had perched 
upon our standard. 

So much for the regimental history where 
he participated in all of its marches and all 
of its hardships, in all of its glory and m all 
of its suffenngs, with the exception of a few 
weeks of sickness of chronic diarrhoea after 
return from the Red River expedition, and 
also of malarial disease at Montgomery, Al- 
bania. His special services with the regi- 
ment are as follows: 

I. Headquarters Twenty-seventh Iowa Ikfan- \ 

TRY Volunteers, Camp Franklin, \ 
September 8, 1862. \ 

special order no. 3. 

Private Daniel A. Bartke, Company E, Twent)'- 
seventh Iowa, is hereby detailed for duty as clerk at 
these headquarters, and will report immediately to 
Lieutenant E. A. Sherburn, acting adjutant. Twenty- 
seventh Iowa Volunteers. 

J.\.MES I. Gilbert, Colonel Commanding: 

E. A. Sherburn, Adjutant. 

II. Headquarters Second Brigade, 1 
Third Division, Sixteenth Army (Jokps, K 

Alexandria, Louisiana April 29, 1864, ) 

SPECIAL ORDER NO. 8. 

Private Daniel A. Barktc, Company E, Twenty-sev- 
enth Iowa, is hereby detailed for duty as clerk at 
these headquarters, and will at once report to Cap- 
tain C. T. Granger, assistant acting adjutant-Gen- 
eral. 

By order of William T. Shaw, colonel command- 
ing brigade. C. T. Granger, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 

III. Headquarters Second Division, ) 
Depart.ment Army- Tennessee, \ 

Nashville, Tennesse, December 2, 1804. ) 

SPECIAL ORDER NO. .55. 

Private Daniel A. Bartke, Company E, Twenty- 
seventh Iowa Infantry Volunteers, is hereby detailed 
as clerk for general coiirt m.irshal, and will forthwith 
report to Captain C. T. Granger, judge advocate, for 
duty. 
By order of Brigadier-General K. Garrard : 

J. B. Comstock, 
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 



rOPE COUNTY. MLV.VESOTA 



3f>3 



IV. Hkadquauters Second Brigade, Second ) 

Division, Sixtkentii Aumy Corps, V 
JIoNTGOMERY, ALABAMA, May 2, 1865. ) 

SPECIAL order no. 85. 

Private I). A. Rartke, Company E, Twenty-seventh 
Iowa, is liereby detailed as elerk for court marshal, 
and will forthwith report to Captain Harvey N. Brok- 
way. judge advocate, for duty. 

By order of Brigadier-General James I. Gilbert : 

Alheut C. Ripe, 
Lieutenant and Acting Assistant Division Commander. 

V. IlKAnQUARTERS SECOND BuKlADE, SECOND 

Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, 
MoNTGOiirERY, ALABAMA, June 7, 1865. 

special order no. 56. iii. 

Private Daniel A. Bartke. Company E, Twenty- 
seventh Iowa Infantry Volunteers, is hereby detailed 
for special duty as clerk at these headcjuarlers, and 
will report at once to Lieutenant W. G. Donuan, 
Assistant Acting Adjutant-General, for duty. 

By order of Brigadier-General James I. Gilbert: 

W. G. Donnan, 

Lieutenant and Assistant Acting Adjutant-General. 

The war being at an end, the enemy hav- 
ing surrendered unconditionally to the su- 
perior valor of Nortiiern arms, regiment 
liiially received the last marching orders to 
proceed to Clinton, Iowa, to be discharged 
and disbanded, which followed on the 8th 
day of August, 1S()5. Having returned now 
to civil life again he remained for nearh' a 
year in Iowa, taking rest, and recruiting his 
broken-down constitution. On October 2G, 
1866, he finally landed at Glenwood, then a 
new town, in a new country on Minnesota 
frontiers, brinoino- alono- all of iiis saving-s, 
which amounted to about $1,600, investing 
the same in real estate, etc., in Glenwood, 
Pope county, !Minnesot;i; bought twenty-one 
lots, and Ijoiight a house 3Gx-10, two stories 
high ; had a drug store, with over $1,000 in- 
voice of goods in it ; was register of deeds 
for four years, and deputy register for one 
year and a half ; held other minor offices, 
such as assessor, for fivevears; justice of the 
peace, for four years. In the year 1875 a 
heavy misfortune visited him. by which, all 
told, he lost about $5,000, which broke iiim 
completely up, but, nevertheless, in asiiort 
time he got up; again bought land; raising 



stock and other speculations soon enabled 
him to comfortably support ids family. 

The family record is as follows : Daniel 
A. IJartke, born Augu.st 8, 1832; Mary 
Bartke, M'ife, born September 27, 1845, mar- 
ried, January 8, 1873 ; children — Emma Ilar- 
riette, born June 28, 1873; Lillie Pauline, 
born October 2, 1874; Rosie Marie, born 
July 7, 1876; Bertha Augusta, born August 
1, 1881, and Frank August, born Aj)ril 23, 
18S4. The children are all alive and healthy. 
As this biogra|ihical sketch is chiefly prepared 
for his children's future reference, therefore 
the lengthy history of his war record may 
be excused. 



'«-: 



^ VON LILIENTHAL, the subject of 
this personal sketcli, was born April 
15, 1825, in Prussia, Province of Pomerania 
near the Baltic Sea. lie was the son of 
Frederick and Mary Anna (Von Brisen) Lilien- 
tlitil. The father was an officer in the 
Prussiiin army, serving in military affairs 
from the time he was twelveyears of age, until 
he reached the age of sixty, devoting his whole 
life in the cause of his native land. His 
motlier died in 1842. Our subject remained 
in his fatherland until twenty-eight or thirty 
years of age, in the mean time receiving a hb- 
eral education, and was also the administrator 
of his father's estate. He landed in NewYork, 
March 5, 1852, finally settled atCalumet,Fond 
du Lac county, AVisconsin, clerking in a gen- 
eral store, until 1857, when he removed to 
Montello,Mar(piette county, Wisconsin, where 
he opened a general mcrchaiulisc store, 
operating the same two years ; then he re- 
moved to Harrisville, where he cno-ajjed in 

■ CO 

the same business, remaining from 1857 until 
1881, at which date he removed to Pope 
county, Minnesota, settling on section 2, 
Glenwood township. He wiw has 432 acres, 
352 of which arc subdiieii to a hi<rli state of 



364 



roPF. cor.vrv, Minnesota. 



cultivation. He built bis residence on tbe 
outlet of Lake Amelia, in a picturesque lo- 
cation, overlooking tbe lake. 

Our subject was first married in 1855, to 
Albertina Smitb, wbo died in 1864. Sbeleft 
five cbildren, who are all still living — Louis, 
Tberessa, Cecilia, Rinliold and Herman. 

He was again married in 1865, to Wil- 
lielmina Zabel, born in Prussia, in ISIO, and 
who came to America in 1863. Tbe\' have 
seven children — Frederick, Louisa, Hermina, 
Albin, Beno, William and Clara. 

The whole family line were of a military 
character. The father fought under King 
William III, beino- at all battles against 



Napoleon Bonaparte ; also with the band of 
patriots under Ferdinand von Schill. A 
brother of our subject is now a general on 
the retired list of the Prussian arnw. Mr- 
Von Lilienthal has been engaged in many 
business callings, making a success of aU. In 
addition to his mercantile life, he became a 
mill owner in Wisconsin, and operated two 
woolen mills for some time. 

He is a man of the utmost integrit}", and 
is highh' esteemed, both as a neighbor and 
an exemplary citizen. As will be seen from 
his name, he comes of an excellent German 
family, the " von " being an indication of the 
aristocratic, or upper class of society. 




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TEM':NS COrXTY. one 
of the most fertile and 
prosperous counties in 
^[innesota, is located at 
the soutiiern extremity of 
the famous Ked River and 
I'arli regions. It lias the same 
invigoi'ating, clear and dry cli- 
mate so common to the State, 
and particularly characteristic 
of the Park Region. The 
county is bounded on the north 
by Grant county, on the east 
by Pope, on the south by Swift 
and Big Stone, and on the west 
b}' Big Stone and Ti-averse. It 
embi-aces an area of sixteen townsiiips, tech- 
nically known as townsiiips 12.'J, 124, 12."'> and 
12<!, in ranges 41, 42, 43 and 44. The area 
of the county includes 570 scpiare miles, or 
;:50S,»'>4U acres. The soil of the count\' is of 
inexhaustible fertility, and no county in the 
State lias been more al)undantly emlowed 
by nature, and fitted for the purposes of 
general farming and stock-raising. As a 
rule, the soil is a rich dark loam, underh'ing 
whicii is a subsoil of clay and gravel. The ; 
formation is peculiar, inasmuch as it absorbs 
and retains the moisture in sucii a manner j 



that it is especially successful in withstiinding 
the effects of either extreme drouth or exces- 
sive rainfall. It is well adapted to raising all 
the cereals common to this latitude, producing 
abundant crops of wheat, oats, barley, corn, 
hay, vegetables, etc., but the true wealth of 
the county lies in the abundance and the 
excellent quality of tiie wild grasses, which 
are wonderfully nutritious. The whole 
county is almost a natural meadow. Tame 
grasses, however, grow and thrive, and when 
sown at the proper time, will soon, without 
harrowing, crowd out the prau-ie grass. The 
reason for this is found in tlie fact that tame 
grasses produce an abundance of seed, while, 
with wild grass, the case is just the reveree. 

The surface of Stevens county is made up 
of rolling prairie, and the drainage is almost 
perfect. The Pomme de Terre River flows 
through the county from northeast to south- 
west, furnishing several water-power priv- 
ileges, some of which have been improved. 
The affluent creeks of this stream and tribu- 
tary lakes furnish an abundance of pure 
water for stock, and ample drainage for the 
land. There are many lakes scatteixxl over 
the surface of the county, whicli abound with 
fish, and hundreds of sportsmen yearly visit 
this region to fish, hunt, or " summer resort." 



372 



STEVF.VS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Stevens county was originally established 
or created by an act of the Legislature, 
passed or approved February 20, 18G2. Pre- 
vious to this time it had for j^ears, perhaps 
centuries, been a favorite hunting ground 
for the Indians. When the country was first 
settled by white men, it bore fresh and nu- 
merous signs of this. Elk, deer, and buffalo 
horns and bones were liberally strewn over 
the prairie, and there were also many signs 
of former Indian warfare and battle-grounds, 
for instance, an old decayed breastwork 
at Gager's Station, one on an island in a 
lake near Donnelh^ and a half circle of dig- 
oino-s or holes on sections IS and 20, in 
what is now Framnas township. Besides 
having been a favorite resort of the Indians, 
this I'egion was trod by the foot of white 
men many years before the advent of an 
actual settler. Wluit is now Stevens county 
was in an almost direct line between tlie 
famous Selkirk Eed Eiver settlement and 
the posts on the Mississippi Rivei", and the 
old trail passed through this county. It is 
therefore safe to say, that for many years 
Stevens county was often visited by the 
whites before the first settlement. It is im- 
possible to say with any degree of cer- 
tainty whether or not there was an actual 
settlement effected within the limits of 
the county before the days of the Indian 
massacre of 1862. It would not seem im- 
probable, when it is remembered, that in 1856 
to 1860, there was a wonderful tide of im- 
migration pushing beyond the line of the " Big 
Woods," and on toward the western line of the 
State. And it is certain, tluit during these 
years every county which adjoins Stevens, 
received one or more actual settlers. 
AVhether Stevens county received a settler 
or not, however, cannot now l)e decided, 
and the question must forever remain 
shrouded in the mist of years. The outbreak 
of the Sioux Indians, which began in August, 
1862, retarded seriously the growth and de- 



velopment of the western part of Minnesota, 
and for many montlis the red fiends car- 
ried on a carnival of bloodshed over the 
western prairies, massacreing the defenceless 
settlers, and burning and destroying every- 
thing perishable. All travel was completely 
sto]iped, and this ]iortion of the State was en- 
tirely depopulated, ilinnesota suffered a set- 
back from which it took years to recover. 
After the inauguration of this terrible and 
fiendisli warfare, the western frontier line re- 
ceded eastward, and Stevens county was again 
left in the midst of the Indian hostile country, 
and for many months no white man trod its 
soil. After the settlements in the eastern 
part of the State had partially recovered 
from the first rude shock of the Indian out- 
break, wliicli fell like a tiiunderbolt from 
a clear sky, steps were at once taken to de- 
fend the exposed settlements, to conc{uer the 
redskins, and drive them back. At that 
time the Civil War was in progress and a 
majority of the able-bodied settlers were 
in the South fighting- for the flag: and the 
Union. It therefore required some time 
to muster troops and place theni in ad- 
vantagecjus positions to cope with the wily 
red foe, and in the mean time the Indians 
carried on their brutal warfare, murdering 
men, women and children, and burning as 
they went. After considerable delay the 
Indians were driven back, soldiers were 
placed all through this western country, and 
the prairies were constantly patrolled by the 
companies of brave soldiers who were de- 
tailed for this service. In time the redskins 
were subdued, although for a number of 
years the settlers on the extreme frontier 
lived in a constant state of fear and anxiety, 
not knowing at what time the masacre might 
break out afresh. Through these causes, 
soldiers were kej^t on the frontier for some 
time, and Stevens county was often visited 
and used as a camping ground b}^ them ; 
manv of these soldiers afterward found 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



373 



homes liere, not a few having selected their 
claims while here in the service. Wlien 
peace was again established on the border, 
travel between the settlements on tiie Red 
River posts was again resiiniod. and the line 
of tlie frontier moved westward very I'apidl}'. 
Tlu' old stMgc line, or regularly traveled 
"trail,'" passetl through Stevens county, and 
this fact greatly accelerated th(^ early settlc- 
nuMit and development of the t'ounty. A sta- 
tion was established on this trail, known as 
Gager's Station, which became a "sort of" 
heaquarters for the county, and which was 
afterward made the temporary county seat. 
This was iirst located where Stone's River-- 
side Alill is now situated, but in 1867 it was 
removed to what is now Charles Winter- 
mute's farm, where Henry Gagcr at that 
time opened a farm. 

The first settlement of the count}', of 
which we now have any authentic knowledge, 
was made in 1866. The po])ulation grew 
rapidly with each year, during 1867, 1808, 
1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872. The St. Paul & 
Pacific Railway was com])leted to the pi-es- 
ent site of Moi'i'is and trains I'unning in 
August, 1871. and this gave great im[)etusto 
the immigration. The county was organized, 
and the county seat located at Morris. The 
settlement grew very ra])idly, business houses 
si)rang up, ami a village was laid out at Mor- 
ris ; a village was also platted and .started un- 
der the name of Hancock, which has grown to 
be an important point. Substantial farms 
were opened all over the count}', tasty and 
comfortal)le dwellings, churches and school 
houses soon dotted the prairie in all direc- 
tions, and the waving fields of golden grain 
bespoke ihe wonderful prosperity' Avhich pre- 
vailed. The financial i)anic of 1873, caused 
a slight depression here, but as the settle- 
ment was so new, and was made up of an 
excellent class of men, the drawback was 
not a serious one. The yield of crops was 
enormous, and the prospects were so flatter- 



ing that a majority of the farmers in pre- 
paring for more convenient aiui extensive 
operations, incurred indebteihiess which tliev 
otherwise would have refrained from, and 
they thereby made an unforeseen calamitv 
harder to bear. Thus in the midst of pres- 
ent prosperity, and the most flattering- 
prospects for the futui'e, the grasshopi)ers 
swarmed down upon the crops of the set- 
tlers, annihilating and destroying almost 
every vestige of the growing crops, and leav- 
ing the fanners almost destitute. This began 
in 1875, and continued for three years, prov- 
ing almost as disastrous a setback to the 
country as did the Indian massacre. Times 
were very hard during those daj's. Unable 
to draw support and sustenance from the 
soil, many of the settlers left, while others, 
unable or unwilling to leave and abandon 
their claims, engaged in trapping, and it can 
be truthfully said that for several years " fur 
was legal tender" in tiiis region. Money 
was very scarce. There \vas no sale for 
property, and after the first b!ow fell, the 
only sale for land was in mortgaging it to 
Eastern capitalists, and nearly all of the East- 
ern money was withdrawn after the first 
year. 

But finally, the grasshoppers left or ceased 
coming, and again Stevens county i-esumed 
its onward uuirch towartl settlement anil 
development. jS^othing has since occurred to 
seriously interrupt its progress and the county 
is to-iiay one of the most prosperous and 
promising in the western part of the State. 

Contemplate the changes that liave been 
made here, and one cannot but .vonder at 
the marvelous results that have been accomj)- 
lished within the past twent^'-two yeai-s. 
Turn back, as it were, the leaves of Time's 
great book to a period only a (piarter of a 
century ago, and what a contrast ! Then all 
was as nature had formed it, the broad and 
rolling i)rairies were as magnilicenl then as 
now ; in summer a ]>erfect pai-adise of ver- 



374 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



dure, with its variegated hues of flowers and 
vegetation ; in winter a snow-mantled des- 
ert ; selected as a camping ground by the 
Sioux, with that wonderful appreciation of 
tiie beautiful which nature lias made an in- 
stinct in the savage. Not a sign of habita- 
tion or civilization existed ; it was the home 
of the red man, and the freedom of bird and 
beast reigned suj)reme. To-day, what a con- 
trast ! Cities and villages have sprung up as 
if by magic ; civilization and progress are 
apparent on every hand ; comfortable and 
substantial (Iwellings iiave sprung uj) all over 
the former barren ])raii-ie; and the result is 
a prosperous land, tilled with an enterpris- 
ing, intelligent people, dotted with schools 
and churches; and the iron horse, swifter 
than the nimble deer, treads the pathway so 
recently the trail of the red man. 

The early settlers here experienced many 
hardships and disadvantages, but as a rule, 
those who have remained here since early 
days, have been repaid for their enterprise, 
industry and tenacity, and are, to-day, in 
good circumstances, having comfortable 
homes, and the abundance of stock manifests 
the successful results of their management. 
No portion of the State is better adapted to 
stock-raising and general farming, and the 
intelligent class of farmers who have located 
here devote much of their attention to these 



lines, a 



Ih 



;ii wlieat-raisino- as vet is the 



leading occupation of the husbandman. 

The following is a list of a great many of 
the 

PIONEERS 

of Stevens county — Charles Olson, Lewis 
L. Ilegland, Hans Gudvangen, Christian 
Jacobson, Peter Bjork, Thomas Osten- 
son Hagen, Mons Johnson, John AVhip- 
ple, Lars II. Ilanse, Hans Hanse, Erick 
Erlandson, Thomas Tliomasson, Lewis Baker, 
Ole Mikkelson, PhilJiii Frisbey, Henry Gag- 
er, Jacob Baker, Ole Melland, William 
Perry, Henry Foss, Warner Brothers, Matt 



Diedrich, Abraham Lee, K. M. Richardson, 
Henry Baldwin, John Folsom, William Mc- 
Pherson, John Harrington, Albert Movine, 
Christian Gaarder, Herman Winter, J. D. 
Good, John Backius, Peter Peterson. George 
Hanson, Archibald Young, Mr. Shalmaik 
Sr., Herman Zahl and brothers, O. C. Han- 
son, William Wunsch, Michael Galvin, Hans 
Anderson, Osten Thomps(^n. Job Smith, Nels 
Olson, Lewis Baker, Albert Barse, E. M. 
Owens, O. S. and Noah M. Freeman, Steph- 
en AVheeler, Ole Clementson, J. Owen, Wil- 
liam McPherson. 

There were nndoubtedly many others wlio 
came as early as parties who have been 
named, but it is impossible to obtain a com- 
plete list. In the biographical department 
of this work will be found per.sonai leminis- 
cences of many of these and other pioneers, 
besides the biographies of hundreds of the 
most prominent settlers of more recent 3'ears. 

The first postoffice in the count}' was 
established, December 3, 1867, under the 
name of "Scandia." and Thomas Thomass(ni 
was tlie first postmaster. The lirst general 
election in the county was iield in 1S08 at 
Gag'er's station. Al.)out twentv-live legal 
votes were polled and the returns were made 
to Pope county, to which Stevens was at- 
tached for civil and judicial purposes. The 
first legally surveyed roail through the coun- 
ty was a State road, since vacated, extending 
from Glenwooil via Gagers Station to 
Brown's Valley. The first store, worthy of 
that name, in the county, was established by 
Henry Baldwin, at Gager's Station, although 
Henr\' Gager had previously kept a small 
trading post there. Mr. Baldwin had brought 
the goods from Forest City. The first 
grop shop in the comity was started 
and kept by a Swede at Gager's Crossing, 
the outfit consistins: of a keg of whiskev and 
a glass — minus shanty or tent. The first 
birth occurred in September, 1867, when 
Helena Hesfland first saw the light. The fibrst 



STKVKNS COUXrV. MINNESOTA. 



375 



death was of a child of Erick Erfandson, and 
the fii-st baptized were Helena Ilegland and 
Josephine Thoniasson. The first religious 
services Avere held by Eev. Beckniann, of the 
Swedish Augiistana S3'nod, of Illinois. The 
first mill site located was by Albert Movins. 
The first to prove up a claim was Peter 
Bjork. He built the first house " over the 
ground," a log cabin. The first shingled i-oof 
was that which covered Scandia pf)stoflice. 
The first frame building in the county was 
erected by Thomas Thomasson for J. D. 
Good, on the latter's farm. The first wheat 
was raised by Lewis L. Ilegland, who in 
threshing had the grain trodden out on the 
srround bv oxen; he also brouijht the first 
load of grain to the mill and market. The 
first i)iece of machinery, a mower, was 
brought here by John "Whijiple and Lewis 
Baker, for the Gager farm; and the first 
reaper was brought here by Lewis L. Heg- 
land. The lirst threshing machine was 
brought here and operated by tlie Warner 
brothers. 

Signs of some very old surveys were found 
in the early days of the settlement, and also 
well preserved stjUces of the first ])roposed 
location of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, 
made, long before the Indian outbreak, by a 
party, consisting principally of English cap- 
italists, who went through the Red River 
Valley. The first Government survey in 
Stevens county was made by George B. 
Wright, of Minneapolis, m 1866, and em- 
braced range 41. The following year the 
southwestern part of the county was sur- 
veyed. The remainder or western portion 
was surveyed in 1868, by General T. U. 
Barrett, who at that time selected a place 
for his future home. 

In the early days of the settlement there 
were many Indians and half-breeds in this 
region, and they would frequently call at the 
cabins of the pioneei"S for provisions. An en- 
gagement between a party of Sioux and Chip- 



pewa Indians took place in the spring of 1868 
on the prairie north of what was afterward 
the Dr. Ileenan farm, aiul it is claimed that 
several were slain and buried. Just previous, 
and what probablj' caused this engagement, 
the same band of Chippewas had killed a 
squaw of their own tribe, who had married 
a Sioux brave some time before. The kill- 
ing of the squaw took place near the lower 
crossing at Stone's Mill. News having been 
sent to St. Paul of hostile fratherintrs in 
Dakota Territory, and tiie authorities fear- 
ing another attack upon the few and scat- 
tered settlers along this western edge of civili- 
zation, Governor Austin sent out his secre- 
tary of State, Hans ^Nlattson, with a good 
suj)ply of rifles and amnumition for the i)ur- 
pose of organizing State militia. Stevens 
county was designed for Company II, First 
Regiment, and John Folsom was ai)poiuted 
captain; Thomas Thonuisson, first, -and Henry 
Foss, second lieutenants. Companies of 
soldiers exchanging stations, and military 
wagon trains passing through the settlement 
very often, made the settlei"s feel more at 
ease, and no more uneasiness for their safety 
was felt until the big scare in 1874, but this 
soon passed off, and since that time all has 
been peaceful and uneventful. In the first 
years of the settlement, bufl'alo were seen 
east of the Pomme de Terre River; elk, deer 
and lynx were numerous, beai' w;is also seen 
at a few places. Large eagles' nests then 
adorned most of the larger trees around the 
lake shores; cormorant, swan, pelicans, and 
lesser game resorted regularly at the larger 
lakes. 

The first term of court in Stevens county 
was held at Morris, beginning on the ITth 
of June, 1873. Honorable James JI. McKeIvy 
was judge; Henry Baldwin, clerk, and Wil- 
liam Dragoo, sheriff. 

Prior to its organization the teiritory now 
included in Stevens county was attacheil to 
Po|)e county for official purposes. As it was 



376 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



established or created in 1862, its boundaries 
were arranged very raucli at variance with 
what we find them to-day. In 1866 the 
boundaries were chano^ed. According- to this 
arrangement the county was long and nar- 
row, and embraced eighteen congressional 
townships, as follows: The southeast corner 
of the county was at the southeast corner of 
the town of Framnas ; the southwest corner 
at the southwest corner of the town of Pep- 
perton (three townships wide), and it ran 
north, six tiers of townsliips, to the north 
boundary line of Grant county. Tlie Ijalance 
of the county, lying south of the township 
line running through the village of Morris, 
formed a part of what was then known as 
Lac-qui-parle county. In 1868 an act was 
passed by the Legislature re-ari-anging county 
lines, which established the boundaries of 
Stevens county as we find them to-da}^ em- 
bracing sixteen congressional townships. The 
county was named in honor of Colonel 
Stevens, of Minneapolis, a prominent man in 
the State in pioneer times. 

During the summer of 1869 a few of the 
settlers began agitating the matter of effect 
ing a county organization, antl tlie re|)re 
sentative from Pope and Douglas counties 
was a[)plied to, to attend to the necessary 
preliminaries. In the fall the Governor ap- 
pomted Job Smith, Charles Olson and O. S. 
Freenum as the first county commissioners 
of Stevens county, and authorized them to 
take the necessary steps toward effecting a 
county organization. The countv seat was 
located temporarily at Gager's Station. This 
board of commissioners only held one meet- 
ing, at which they formed the county into an 
election precinct. No steps were taken toward 
perfecting the organization of the county, 
and no record of their meeting, nor even 
of their appointment has been preserved. 
Thus, the matter dropped, and nothing fur- 
ther was done until 1871, when the matter 
was again taken up and the organization was 



completed, andthe official wheels of Stevens 
county were set in motion. In the fall of that 
3'ear J. T. Avery and J. D. Good were ap- 
pointed county commissioners. The first 
meeting of this board was held on the 5th of 
October, 1871, when J. T. Avery was chosen 
chairman and R. ]\I. Richardson, clerk of the 
board. The board then appointed county 
officers, to serve until their successors were 
elected and qualified, as follows — E. M. Rich- 
ardson, register of deeds ; M. L. Toi'pej^, 
county auditor ; Henry Baldwin, treasurer; 
and William Dragoo, sheriff. The clerk was 
directed to issue notices for a general 
election to be held that fall, and then 
the board adjourned. It seems that some- 
thing was irregular in the organization of the 
county, for, in 1872, we find that the Legis- 
lature was applied to and passed an act legal- 
izing the organization of Stevens countv as 
effected. Tiie county seat was located at 
Morris at the time the second board of 
county commissioners were appointed, in 
1871, and has always remained at that point. 
Since its organization the history of Stevens 
county, in an official sense, has been unevent- 
ful. Without an exception the county offices 
have alwaj'S been filled by capable and effi- 
cient men, and the finances of the county 
have been well managed. 

The following is a list of the gentlemen 
Avho have composed the board of 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, 

since the organization of the county, so far 
as is disclosed by tlie records: 

1869— Charles Olson, Job Smith and O. 
S. Freeman. 

1871 — J. T. Avery, chairman, and J. D. 
Good. 

1872— J. R. Folsom, chairman; J. D. Good 
and Henry Foss. 

1873 — John D. Good, chairman; Henry 
Foss and Charles AV^intermute. 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



377 



1874 — John D. Good, chairman; Henry 
Foss and Joel B. Smith. 

1875 — Charles Wintermute, chairman; 
IIenr\^ Foss and W. W. (Triswokl. 

1876 — Charles yfmtQvmwiQ, chairman; A. 
J. Comstock and Thomas Tliomasson. 

1877 — Charles Wintermute, chairman; A. 
J. Comstock and Thomas Thomasson. 

1878 — A. J. Comstock, chairman; R. J. 
Hall and Thomas Thomasson. 

1879 — A. J. Comstock, chairman; It. J. 
Hall and Ole A. J5akke. 

1880 — R. J. Hall, chairman; A. J. Com- 
stock and Ole A. Bakke. 

1881 — A.J. Comstock, chairman; Ole A. 
Bakke and Edward A. Dopkins. 

1882 — L. L. Hegland, chah-man; K. C. 
llelgesen and Henry Hutchins. 

1883 — A.H. Taise}', chairman; L. L. Heg- 
land, M. Finnegan, K. C. Helgeson and 
Henry Hutchins. 

188-1 — Henry llulcliins, chairman; L. L. 
Hegland, K. C. Helgeson, R. J. Hall and M. 
Finnegan. 

1885 — Henry Hutchins, chairman; R. J. 
Hall, L. L. Hegland, M. Finnegan, and B. B. 
McArthur. 

1886 — R. J. Hall, chairman; Henry 
Hutchins, M. Finnegan, Theodore Linstad, 
and B. B. McArthur. 

1887 — L. H. Pushor, chairman; Henr}^ 
Hutchins. George C. Thorpe, O. N. Dohlen 
and John C. Hancock. 

1888 — George C. Thorpe, of Hancock, 
chairman; L. H. Pushor, of ^Morris; O. N. 
Holilen, of Swan Lake townsiiip ; Henry 
Hutchins, of Morris, and John ('. Hancock, 
of Scott townsiiip. 

The following is a list of the gentlemen 
who have filled the various 

COUNTY OFFICES 

.since Stevens county was organized, viz. : 

CoLxrv Auditor. — i\I. L. Torpey, W. W. 
Griswold, Thonuis E. Heenan and George M. 
Giltinan. 



County Treasurer. — Henry Baldwin, 
Samuel Larson, Hugh Whiteley, J. E. Fav- 
row and K. C. Helgeson. 

Register of Deeds.— R. M. Richardson, 
John G. Sundell, M. L. Torpey, R. Isl. Rich- 
ardson, J. L. Miller and L. H. Wellington. 

Ci.EKK OF CouKT. — Jauics T. Avery, Henry 
Baldwin and Samuel Larson. 

SuERiKF. — William Dragoo, Jose])li C. Rue, 
H. T. Lovctt, John Laudl^erg, C. P. Magin- 
nis and George H. Munro. 

SUJ-EKINTENDENT OK ScHOOLS.^ — R. M. Ricll- 

ardson, A. J. Comstock, J. A. Johnson and 
W. C. Bicknell. 

JiDGE OF Probate. — R. M. Richanlson, L. 
E. Pearce, Hezekiah Bragg, John A. Gilti- 
nan and George E. Darling. 

County Attorney. — Addison V. Teeple, 
George A. J. Overton, H. T. Bevans, C. L. 
Brown and S. A. Flaherty. 

Coroner. — Smitii P. Scotield and Dr. Hul- 
burd. 

Surveyor.- — A. V. Teeiile, I). T. AViieatun, 
J. P. IL Morris and D. T. Wheaton. 

Court CoirMissioNER. — H. B. WoKf. Fritz 
Buckentin and AV. L. Coh^er. 

An imposing and substantial court house 
and jail was ereotetl in 1SS2 at a cost of about 
$22,(100, which is a credit to the county. 

The following is a list of the present 

OFFICEKS 

of Stevens county, viz.: — George M. Giltinan, 
auditor; L. 11. Wellington, register of deeds; 
Samuel Lai-son, clerk of court; K. C. Hel- 
geson, treasurer; George H. Munro, sheriff ; 
George IE. J)iirVing,jud(/e of prolate ; W. 0. 
Bicknell, count;/ superintendent ; S. A. Fla- 
liertj'^, county attorney ; W. L. Colyer, court 
commissioner; Dr. L. IL Hulburd, coroner ; 
and D. T. AVheaton, surveyor. 

Stevens county has railway and marketing 
facilities which are not excelled by any 
count}' in the western portion of tiie State. 
The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Rail- 
way passes through the county from south- 



378 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



east to northwest, while the terminus of a 
branch of the Northern Pacific Railway is 
at Morris, from which place it makes direct 
connection with Duluth. The Manitoba 
Railway also has a branch extending from 
Morris to Brown's Vallej'. These two — the 
Manitoba and Northern Pacific- — are the 
leading thoroughfares of traffic in the 
Northwest, and give Stevens county excel- 
lent shipping facilities. 

The county is divided into sixteen 
TOWNSHIPS, 



which are named as 
tion of the various 
given, from the school 

Baker 89 I 

Donnelly 236 | 

Framnas 2o7 

Hodges 221 | 

Synnes 122 | 

Morris 237 | 

Pepperton 138 I 

Swan Lake 327 I 

Stevens 104 I 



follows — the popula- 
townships also being- 
census of 1885, viz.: 

Darnen 2S0 

Kldorado 100 

Hancock Village 202 

Horton 144 

Moore 160 

Morris Village 1280 

Rendsville 258 

Scott 239 

Potsdam 81 



According to the census of 1885, the 
county had a total pojnilation of 4,511. It 
can now be safely placed at between 7,000 
and 8,000. 

THE VILLAGES 

of Stevens county are Morris, Hancock and 
Donnelly. 

MoKuis — the count\' seat — was platted bj' 
the St. Paul & Pacific Railway Companv, in 
April, 1871, the original town site being- 
located on section 3, township 124, range 42; 
and section 35, township 125, range 42. 
Since that time additions have been laid out 
at different times by the following par- 
ties: The Railway Company, Mary Ellen 
Mori'is, C. W. Rohne, Watson & Leonard, 
A. A. Stone, AVilliam Dragoo and D. R. 
Sutherland. The village has an excellent 
location, and no point in Western Minnesota 
has brighter prospects for the future. Sur- 
rounded by a wealthy and prosperous farm- 
ing country, it is assured a steady iind ever- 
increasing trade, while its ship[)ing facilities 



are unexcelled. Being at the junction of the 
two trunk lines of railway of the Northwest, it 
is afforded marketing facilities, which make 
it a very advantageous point for manufactur- 
ing industries. The river furnishes a sjood 
water power, which has alread}' been im- 
proved. The village is well laid out and the 
place is adorned and beautified with an 
abundance of shade trees. Educational facil- 
ities here are unsurpassed in this part of the 
State, and the society is of the most desira- 
ble character. The village has never had a 
boom, but rather a steady, healthy growth. 
All lines of business are well represented 
here, although not overdone, and the place 
justl}' hastlie i-eputation of being- one of the 
most enterprising cities in the State. Morris 
has a population of about 1,000 at this writ- 
ing. 

Hancock — the second town in size and im- 
portance in Stevens county — is located in the 
southeastern part of the county, on the 
Manitoba Railroad. It was laid out by the 
St. Paul &: Pacific Railway Company, in 
November, 1872, the original town site being 
located on section 3, township 123. range 41. 
Two additions have since been made, one by 
T. P. Kerr, in December, 1879, and one by 
A. J. Comstock, in January, 1880. The 
village has a population of about 400, and 
the various lines of trade are well represent- 
ed. No town in this part of the State has 
a more intelligent, enterprising and thorough 
class of business men, and every enterprise 
calculated to benefit tiieir locality receives 
hearty aid and encouragement, and this 
spirit has already done much toward the 
development of Hancock anil vicinity. The 
village lias an extensive trade and has a rich 
country tributaiy to it, so that its future 
success and prosjierity seem assured. 

Donnelly. — Tiiis is the name of a small 
village, located on the Manitoba Railway, in 
the northern part of Stevens county. It has 
a population of about 100. 



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?i' Biographical 

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STEl-ENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



3S1 





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HARLES PATRICK MAGINNlS.was 
horn in Wayne cuunty, Kew Yoi-k, 
in IS-iO, and is tlie olilest son of 
Patrick and Winefred Maginnis. Wlien lie 
was six years okl his fatlier moved westward 
and settled on a farm near Med Wing, Good- 
hue county, Minnesota, before the JS^orth 
Star State had yet been admitted to state- 
hood. On the last day of the year lS6i> he 
married Miss Bridget Gaffney. Pie lived on 
the old liomestead with his i)arents until 
1871. In that year he purchased a farm 
adjoining his father's, which he resided upon 
and cultivated until the year 1877, when he 
sold out and came farther west. In com- 
pany with his brother John, he purchased 
and opened a farm of 1,200 acres in the town 
of Morris, Stevens county, which they culti- 
vated together for a time, when a division 
was made. lie followed the occupation of 
farming until 1880. in the fall of which year 
he was elected sheriff of Stevens county, on 
the democratic ticket over two competitors. 
That as a public officer he gave entire satis- 
faction was shown by his re-election to the 
same position in 1882, by a very large ma- 
jority. Asan officer he never shirked a duty, 
and as a man of indomitable courage, cool 
judgment and good sense he has by his dar- 
ing acts on several occasions during his 
career made himself widely known. It was 
during his second term, that, by his timely 



interference at the memorable convention 
during the campaign that gave to tJiis great 
congressional district the nanu; of the 
" Bloody Fifth," that what threatened to be 
a bloody riot Ijetween the warring Kin- 
dred and Nelson factions was happily 
averted, and for this act he was afterward 
sincerely thanked by the })rincipals on both 
sides. Defeated for sheriff b}- a snudl ma- 
jority in the presidential year of 1884, he en- 
gaged in the business of sellin"; farm machine- 
rj'. He built and, in connection with the 
machinery business, operated the Farmers' 
Elevator in Morris for two years, or until 
the time of his appointment by President 
Cleveland as receiver of public monej's at 
Duluth. 

While a resident of Stevens county, he 
was always actively interested in all ])ublic 
measures,and was a leading factor in the coun- 
ty's progress. He favored the building of the 
Little Falls & Dakota Hail way, and after- 
ward advocated settling the bonds with the 
Xorthern Pacific Kailway Company in a 
fair and honorable way. The building of 
the fine public buildings — court and school 
houses — was due in a great measure to his 
influence. 

As noted, to his popularity may be attrib- 
uted his several political victories, for this 
has always been a strong republican county. 
In 1887, although again leading the side of 



382 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



the minoritv, he was elected mayor of Mor- 
ris, in which position he was serving when 
appointed to the Duluth land office. He is 
a man of strictly temperate habits, a Friend 
of Temperance, and has done much for total 
abstinence among the Irish people. Dur- 
ing the month of October, 1886, he made 
himself famous by his conduct at the terrible 
wreck on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
Paul Railroad at Rio, Wisconsin.' He was a 
passenger on that ill-fated train, and it was 
he who, in resjionse to the cry of the impris- 
oned mother, •' Take ray children, I am hurt 
and cannot get out," rescued from the flames 
the two Scherer ciiildren of Winona; whose 
mother and gramlmotlier were victims to 
this terrible I'ailroad holocaust. For his 
bravery and valiant services he was com])li- 
mented by his fellow passengers, and by the 
press of the State, and he takes great pride 
in a gold watch, now worn by him, presented 
by the railroad company as a testimonial of 
his work at the wreck. 

Mr. Maginnis is at present a resident of 
Duluth. He is an eai'nest advocate of tariff 
reform. 



liTNUTE C. HELGESON, the present 
JM\^ county treasurer of Stevens county, 
is one of the most prominent and influential 
citizens of the county. He is the senior 
member of the lirni of Helgeson & Wilcox, 
the heaviest merchants at Hancock, where 
he lives, and he has for a number of years 
been among the most iirominent characters 
m the business antl otticial history' of the 
county. A man of the strictest integrity, 
and a careful business man, his word is rec- 
ognized as being as good as a bond. 

Mr. Helgeson was born in Fond du Lac 
county, Wisconsin, on the 2nd of November, 
1849, and is a son of Kilbourn and Mary 
(Knutson) Helgeson. His parents were na- 



tives of Norway, but came to the United 
States about 1838, and settled in Wisconsin. 
Thej^ still live near Waupun, in that State. 
The parents had a family of seven children, 
five boys and two girls, all of whom are still liv- 
ing, as follows — Harry, Henry, Knute, An- 
drew, Mary, Charles and Tilla. The last 
named was educated at the normal schools 
of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and for the 
past two years has been a teacher in the 
High School at Hancock. 

Knute C. Helgeson, our present subject, 
spent his bo3'hood days and received his 
earlier education in Fond du Lac county, 
Wisconsin. He received an excellent educa- 
tion, taking a thorough course at the Wis- 
consin State University, and supplementing 
this bv a course at the Lutheran College, at 
Decorah, Iowa. After finishing his educa- 
tion he taught school for four months, and 
then came to Benson, Minnesota, and re- 
mained there for two years, ensragcd as a 
clerk in a general merchandise store. He 
then went to Alexandria, where he was em- 
ployed as clerk for one year, and at the ex- 
piration of that time went to Montevideo, 
Chippewa county, where he was engaged at 
clerking for another yeai'. In 1875 he came 
to Hancock, Stevens county, and in company 
with AVoltf it AVells, engaged in the hard- 
ware, lumber and general merchandise trade 
at Hancock, under the liiun name of Wells, 
Helgeson & Company. In 1876, our subject, 
in company with Frank Wilcox, bought out 
the old firm, and the business has since been 
carried on under the name and style of Hel- 
geson it Wilcox. They carry a large stock 
of everything pertaining to their line, and 
are the heaviest merchants in the village. 
In other directions Mr. Helgeson has exten- 
sive property interests in the village and vi- 
cinity, and owns over 500 acres of land in 
adjoining townships. 

In ])olitical matters he is a staunch repub- 
lican, and takes an active intei'est in all mat- 



STEVIiAS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



383 



ters of a public nature. In the spring of 
1SS7, he was appointed county treasurer of 
Stevens county, and still iiolds that office. 
\\g has held various local offices, having at 
various times been a nieniher of the school 
board, the village council, president of the 
council, etc. 

Ml', llelgeson was married on the lOth of 
September, 1S79, to Miss Letta Sylvester, 
and they are the parents of foui- children — 
Mabel L., Clifford W., Edith M. and David. 
Mrs. Helgeson is also a native of "Wisconsin, 
having been born in Dane county. She is a 
daughter of Lars Sylvester. 

-^-*>-!€^-*-— 

^ M, RCHiE YOUNG, a highly respected 
jL-^'~Jl anil well-to-do farmer of section "^2, 
Rendsville township, is the son of James D. 
and Jane (Reid) Young, both natives of Scot- 
land. Their son Aicbie, however, was born 
at Enniskillen, Canada West, April 1, 1843. 
He is one of the leading and rejiresentative 
men of his township. He was among the 
])ioneer liand which Hist settled and organ- 
ized llendsville township, the same being ac- 
complished, March 28, 1S7S, naming it in 
honor of his wife, Lorenda, but Avho ahvays 
went by the name of "llend " — hence the 
township was called lvends\"ille. He was 
reared on his father's farm until twenty-two 
years of age. He then moved to Michigan, 
and there followed lumbering for one year. 
He then came to the wild pineries, of AVis- 
eonsin and remamed one year, working at 
lumbering. In the month of July, ISfSfi, he 
came to Rochester, Minnesota, where he 
worked at harvesting, following up thegi'ain 
as it ripened, ffoing northward. He tlicn 
went on the line of tlie Sr. Raul *.t Pacific 
Railroad, clearing out the line and cho|)ping 
cord wood. 

In tiie foilowiii';' Marcii lie and two sotin;;- 
ladies (_one now his wife) accompanied the 



farmer and his man witli whom they board- 
ed onto a marsh for hay. He accidentally 
fell upon a hay -knife, cutting a fearful gash, 
severing the arteiy of his left wrist. Miss 
Moses took off her aj)i'on and witii his fu- 
ture wife corded his arm — one taking hold 
of each end. At the stoppage of the blood, 
he fainted, and again he fell upon the hay- 
knife, this time cutting a severe wound in 
his hi]), which disabled him until July, 18G7. 
During this time he explored ilecker and 
Kandiyohi counties, in search of land, but 
the whole country seemed so extensive and 
open that he could not well select a ])lace. 
At that time, he stopped with old Joe Kelly, 
on Diamond Lake. July 1, of the same 
year, he went to Minneapolis, and from there 
he went to Illinois, harvesting on his way 
back. He was married, November 2.5, lSf>7, 
to Lorenda Elvira Shaw, of Independence, 
Hennepin county, Minnesota. She is the 
daughter of Timothy 1). and Ruth (Reiil) 
Shaw, who were old settlei's of Henne])in 
county, Minnesota. Both families are now 
living in Delano, Wi'ight count}'. The wife 
Avas a native of Canada, and taught school 
before marriage. She was born November 
1, 1838, coming to the United States with 
her parents at the age of nineteen. They 
came to this county in 1S57. Tiie subject 
and his wife were married at Minneajiolis 
and went to Missouri, where they both got 
sick and returned by the first boat to Minne- 
sota, settling at Independence, where they 
farmed for two years. May 3, 1870, they 
removed from Hennepin county to Stevens 
county, arriving May 9. They made a pre- 
emption on the southwest (piarter of section 
22, township 12ti, range 42, Rendsville town- 
ship, which claim was changed to a home- 
stead, and here they have lived ever since. 
Our subject also took a ti-ee claim on the 
southeast quarter of the same section, which 
he still retains. Their family consists of 
four children, all now at home — Lorenda 



384 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Jane, born September 9, 1868, in Hennepin 
county, who is now teaching in her lather's 
district; Ellen PaUh was born in Rendsville 
townsliip, September 15, 1871; she was the 
first ciiild l)orn in tlie township; Archie Henry 
was born October 5, 1873, and is now a great 
help to his parents ; James Francis was born 
February 3, 1877; he is now at sciiool. The 
farm house and iiome of our subject is situ- 
ated on the bank of Young's Lake, in a nat- 
ural grove, enlarged and made more beauti- 
ful by the many trees of artificial planting. 
Mrs. Young remained on this homestead 
f(^r eleven months without seeing a woman. 
Mr. Young has been town clerk since the or- 
ganization of the township and school clerk 
since the district was organized in Septem- 
ber, 1S7C. He is a member of the Congre- 
gational Cimrch, and in his political opinions 
IS a democrat and a firm believer in prohibi- 
tion. In June, 1877, a frontier union Sun- 
day school was organized in school district 
No. 7, and our worthy subject has been its 
efficient superintendent a great part of the 
time since. 



-«-- 



^ARS G. NOBEL, the ])resent town clerk 
of Framnas townshiji, and an intelligent 
and prominent farmer of that precinct, is a 
native of Norway. He was born September 
22, 1852, and is the son of Lars G. and 
Thury (Grind}') Nobel, who were also Nor- 
wegians by birth. He received a part of his 
education in the land of his birtii, and was 
brought to the United States in 1860, by his 
jiarents. The family landed in Quebec, 
Canada, and from that port came to Madi- 
son, Wisconsin, near whicli city the fatiier of 
our subject bought a farm, in Dane county. 
The subject of this memoir remained u[)on 
his fathei^'s fai'ui in the " I!adger State " for 
some fourteen years, assisting in the labor of 
carr\ing it on, ami attended the district 



schools. In 1880 he came to this State, and 
located in Pope county, but after a residence 
there of three years, removed to Stevens 
county. On his arrival here he purchased 
eighty acres of land on section 25, of Framnas 
township, and there makes his home. 

Mr. Nobel was united in marriage, Febru- 
ary 18, 1880, with Miss Lena J. Jerdel, a 
native of Dane county, Wisconsin. Her 
parents were born in Norway and came to 
the United States in 1861, and settled in 
Wisconsin, where they are now living. 

Mr. Nobel, jwlitically, affiliates with the 
democratic part}^ and was elected to the 
office of town clerk on that ticket. Both he 
and his wife are consistent and zealous mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Chuach, and are quite 
active in all religious work. His farm, which 
embraces eighty acres, is in a high state of 
culture, and his place evinces his knowledge 
of the art of properly conducting agricult- 
ure. 



>4»ON. REUBEN M. RICHARDSON, of 
Jt^^ Morris, one of the earliest settlers of 
Stevens county, came to this part of the State 
May 20, 1869, with a team, by way of Sauk 
Center, on a prospecting tour. At that time 
there was but one settler between the latter 
place and Glen wood, a man by the name of 
Durkee, and between that point and what is 
now Morris, a distance of fifty miles, the onl}^ 
inhabitants were Nels Wollan, and Lewis 
Larson Hegland. After looking the country 
over, he decided to locate in this county, 
and, returning to his home in St. Cloud, made 
prejiarations for his removal. A week or so 
later he came back to this vicinity and located 
a preeni])tion in what is now the town of 
Morris and erected a log cabin in which to 
shelter himself and family. At tiiat time 
there were west of the Pomme de Teire River 
but the following settlers — Henry Gager, 



SrEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



385 



John Folsoiii, tlie "Warner brothers and Philip 
Frisby. Tliese weiv tiie sole inhabitants 
of that part of tlie county. In \ovenil)er of 
the same year Mr. Richaixlson broiiglit his 
family from St. Cloud, and commenced the 
improvement of his farm, and there made his 
home until the railroad was graded through 
this section. He then removed to his present 
location, which lies inside of the corporate 
limits of the village of Morris. This was in 
Julv, 1871, and at tliat time there was but 
the store of Wilkins & Wolffand the railroad 
engineer's headquarters in Jlorris. He has 
made his home on this farm ever since. 

The subject of this memoir was born in 
Pickaway county, Ohio, August S, 1816, and 
is the son of Peter and Ann (Mowbray) Rich- 
ardson. Pie remained in the " Buckeye 
State," with ids jiarents, until his twenty- 
second year, and then removed to the lead 
mines of Wisconsin. lie I'emaiued there from 
1S39 until April. 184!t. and then went to St. 
Paul, where he landed the 10th of that month. 
There were but seventeen houses in what is 
now Lower Town and live in Upper Town. A 
short time after his arrival there he entered 
the employ of H. JI. Rice, and was engaged 
in the transportation of military supplies 
from Fort Snelling to Fort Gaines, and after- 
ward to Pembina. In the spring of 1S50 he 
was appointed deputy sheriff and de])uty 
marsiial of Benton county, ilinnesota, which 
then comprised all the territory lying north 
of the Rum River and east of the Mississippi, 
and took the census of that counts', lie 
found that the population was -418 souls, 
emi)racing half-breeds and all nationalities 
under the sun. In tliese capacities Mr. Rich- 
ardson acted for one year, and in the spring 
of 1S.51 was united in marriage with j\[iss 
Lois V. Munson, and took a claim near Sank 
Rapids, Benton couuty, where he lived until 
1x5.'). In the latter year he removed to the 
village of liichmond, twenty-live miles west 
of St. Cloud, on the Sauk River, and made his 



home there until the Indian outbreak, in 1862, 
when he removed St. Cloud. In that village 
he resided until coming to Stevens county. 
While living there he held the office of post- 
master from October 1, 1S60, until Jlav, 
1869. 

Mr. Richardson was elected to the Terri- 
torial Legislature, in 1852, to represent the 
district in which he lived, and in 1857 was 
elected to the State Senate and was continued 
in the Legislature until 1866, serving two 
terms in the Senate and the balance of the 
term in the House. In 1854 he received the 
appointment of receiver of the United States 
land office at Sauk Rapids. Benton county, 
which was the first one established north of 
St. Paul. When Stevens county was oi-- 
ganized, in 1871, he was appointed register of 
deeds, and had to go to Benson to be sworn 
in. Tills office he held, b\' election, for 
seven years, and then retired. One year later 
he was again called on by the people to as- 
sume the duties of the same position and re- 
mained in it for three j^ears more. Since 
that time he has lived on his farm, a more 
retired life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are the parents 
of two children — Elizabeth, now Mrs. Henry 
Baldwin, and Lucia V., now Mrs. C. Nelson, 
of Osakis. The Old Settlers' society of 
Stevens county, of which our subject is a 
member, was organized at Philip Frisby 's 
house in 1870, and the last meeting was held 
at the residence of ^Ir. Richardson. He is 
also a memlierof the Old Settlers' a.ssociali(in 
of the State. 

^Ml BERT BONAPARTE WILLIAMS, 
Ji^'\_ whose farm is located on the lianks 
of romme de Terre Lake, on .section IS, is 
one of the most enterprising and intelligent 
citizens of Swan Lake township. He is en- 
gaged in stock-raising and general farming. 



3S6 



STEVE jVS county, MINNESOTA. 



and his thrift and energy are evidenced by 
the success which has reAvarded his efforts, 
as he is rapidly getting in good shape for 
more extended and more profitable opera- 
tions. 

Mr. "Williams was liorn at Eaton lia])ids, 
Ingham count}', Michigan, June 26, 1851, 
and is a son of Hiram and Louisa (Burnham) 
Williams. When he was a mere child his 
parents removed to Illinois, and from the 
time he was ten until he was fourteen years 
of age, he attended the Tuscola Seminary, 
at Tuscola, Illinois. In 1865 the family 
came to Red Wing, Minnesota, and the 
father settled upon a farm at Goodhue 
Centei'. There our subject remained and 
worked until 1876, when he came to Stevens 
county and took a homestead on section 6, 
in Darnen township. On the 31st of May, 
1881, Mr. Williams was married to Lizzie F. 
Smith, a daughter of Samuel B. Smith. 

In February, 1883, Mr. Williams started 
for Washington Territor}', in order to find a 
climate better suited to his taste. He got 
as far as the Rocky Mountains, but, as he 
could not cross in the winter, he returned. 
He again started for the far West the fol- 
lowing spring, and got far enough to meet 
the emigration coming back in " search of a 
better country'," and he, finalh', decided that 
this was about the best country he had 
heard or knew of, and, accordingly, came 
back to sta3'. During his absence he trav- 
eled throu"]] tiie National Park, Wvoming, 
Idaho and IMontana. In speaking of it he 
says he " found many places where the}' 
didn't have so many blizzards, but he de- 
cided that he would rather face any Minne- 
sota blizzard tiian face unseen rattle-snakes 
in almost every bush or clump of grass." 
Upon his return he came to Swan Lake 
township, and tool< a preemption of sixty-six 
acres, on section 18, on Pomme de Terre 
Lake, where lie has since lived. He has 
since purchased thirty -five acres additional, 



and is rapidh' developing it into a valuable 
stock farm. As he says, " the longer he 
lives here the better satisfied he is, and feels 
that this is the ])lace he was in search of." 
Mr. Williams has always taken an active 
intei'est in educational and public affairs. 
He was elected justice of the peace, but did 
not qualify, as he was not an aspirant for 
office. 

Mr. and Mrs. Williams are tlie parents of 
three children — Nathaniel IL, Harriet M. 
and Theresa M. 



..^^ 



Ml ELSON WILLIAM DARROW, aprom- 
5''fj inent farmer living on section li, 
Scott township, Stevens county, is a native 
of Lee county. Illinois, born July 7, 1845. 
His parents were Royal P. and Elsie L. (Haw- 
ley) Darrow, natives of Pennsylvania and 
Connecticut, respectively. In 1850 his father 
went to California, leaving his wife and five 
children, expecting to soon make a fortune 
and tlien return to his familj', but instead of 
making his fortune, he died there, and the 
good wife was compelled to put her chil- 
dren out and go out to work herself. The 
children were Elizabeth, Lucv, Helen and 
Nelson W. Elizabeth, the first child of the 
family, was burned to death, at the age of 
sixteen, by her clothing taking fire while she 
was making a fire. The jioor child, almost 
bordering on womanhood, only lived in ter- 
ril)le agony for ten weeks, and was set free 
fi'om pain by the almost welcome visitor — 
death. Lucy, the next child, is man-ied and 
now lives in Dakota. She is now Mrs. Bur- 
nett. 

Nelson W. was married April 25, 1870. to 
Elizabeth Wymer, tlaughter of Jacob and 
Zelphena (Embry) Wymer. She was born 
in Auburn, Indiana, February 21, 1851. 
They have the following children — Cecil 
Arthur, born February 21, 1870; Charles E. 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



387 



(deceased); Royal (deceased); Colonel Ma- 
son, born Febniary 12, 1877; Helen J., horn 
August 5, 1882. and ]\[aud Etliel. horn Octo- 
ber, lSS-1. 

When oui- sul)j('C't was about six years old 
lie left lionic and went to live with E])hraini 
Wliitney, reniaining- I'oui' years, when \w ran 
away, going to Iowa, with one William Ers- 
kin, with whom he remained three years, 
aftei- which period he went buck to Illinois, 
where his mother lived, and worked out by 
the month for a year; then went to Wiscon- 
sin anil remained the same length of time, 
again returning to Illinois, stopping a short 
time, and went over into Iowa again, there 
remaining until the war came on. He 
trieil to enlist, but was rejected on account 
of his age, but he went over into Illinois and 
enlisted there, but his mother, in all kind- 
ness, took him out of the service, when he 
ran away and re-enlisted, his mothei-, this 
time, consenting. He enlisted, finalh', Sep- 
temlier 22, isr)2, and remaineil in the army 
until June. 1865, as a member of Company 
D, Seventy fifth Illinois Infantry. He was 
in twenty-three engagements, receiving a 
wound ill the cheek at the battle of Prairie- 
ville, Kentucky. October 8.1802. He first 
served under General Buel, aftei'ward under 
Kosencranz, Sherman and " Pap " Thomas. 
To enable the reader to get a clearer concep- 
tion of what dangers this gallant 3'oung sol- 
dier encountered, we will enumerate the bat- 
tles in which he fought : Prairieville (Ken- 
tucky), Stone River. Chickaniauga. Lookout 
Mountain, Mission Ridge, Ringgold, Resaca, 
Dalton, Dallas, Kingston, ^larietta, Peach 
Tree Creek. Atlanta, Franklin. Nashville and 
many other skirmishes of lesser note in war 
history. After his discharge he went at 
once to visit his mother, at Rock Island, Illi- 
nois. From there he went to Shell Rock, 
Iowa, purchased a farm and lived on the same 
for about fifteen years, and was married 
while there. He finallv sold out in Iowa and 



removed to Stevens county, Minnesota, ar- 
riving in November, 1880. He rented a faiiu 
for three years, and during this time jumped 
a tree claim, over which he had a contest with 
Patrick Ilines, coming out the victor — hence 
the owner of the place. He then took the 
claim as a homestead, and finally jiroved up 
in 1885, and has since lived on the same. 
He has about eighty acres under the plow, 
owns seven liorses ami forty-two cattle. 

Commencing a fatherless bo}', with no 
friends to care for and aid hiin in the battles 
of life, he has always fought his own way 
through poverty and actual warfare, coming 
off more than concpieror. For his disabilitv 
contracted in the sei'vice, he receives the sum 
of $6.00 per month, pension. 

Politically our subject is a democrat. He 
has held various local offices, including tliat 
of township assessor. He is a man that takes 
much interest in reviewing the old war time 
days, and is member of Overton Post, No. 
99, of the Grand Army of the Republic at 
Morris. 



^ItEPHEN a. FLAHERTY, the present 
S^^ county attorney of Stevens county, 
was born in Sheboygan. Wisconsin, April 
15, 1855. His parents, Michael and ilary 
Flaherty, are both natives of the County of 
Clare, Ireland, and immigrated to this coun- 
try in lS-i7. Michael Flaherty enlisted and 
took part in the Mexican War, and after its 
close located in Sheboygan county, where he 
remained till 1857, when he removed to Ran- 
toul, Calumet county, Wisconsin. He was 
one of the first settlers in Rantoul, where he 
bought a heavy timbered tract of land, which 
he cleared and cultivated, and which he anil 
his family still occupy as the old homestead. 
Stephen A., the subject of this .sketch, is 
the second of a family of eight children. He 
remained with his parentsaiid liel|ied to work 



3SS 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



the farm until his eighteenth year, without 
any opportunity of getting an education, ex- 
ce])t such as was ottered by the district schools 
in winter time. In 1873 he entered Law- 
rence Universit}', in Appleton, Wisconsin, 
which university he attended for about three 
years. During and after his attendance at 
college he devoted a good share of his time 
to teaching school, though this, he says, is a 
1)usiness he followed more by reason of neces- 
sity than love foi' the occupation. In the 
spring of 1878 he came to Minnesota, and 
taught school in Siljle^y countj' for a year or 
more. In the fall of 1879 he entered the 
State University, at Minneapolis, where he 
attended four terms, pursuing such studies as 
he considered would be of most assistance to 
him in the profession which he had decided 
to take up. In 1880 he commenced to read 
law in the office of Lewis Brownell, in Min- 
neapolis, and again taught school in the win- 
ter of 1880-1881, this time in Meeker county. 
When this term of school closed he stai'ted to 
Morris, and got acquainted, coming up on the 
train, with L. C. Spooner, who, a few months 
before, had opened a law office in Morris. 
On February 17, 1881, Mr. Flaherty arrived 
in Morris, and immediately entered Mr. 
Spooner's office as a law student and clerk. 
In the fall of 1881 he returned to Meeker 
county, where he taught his last term of 
school, upon the expiration of which he went 
back to Morris, and has resided there since. 
There he again resumed his law studies, and 
in November, 188:4, was admitted to the bar. 
After his admission to the bar he remained 
with Mr. Spooner, and in the spring of 1883 
became a member of the firm of Spooner, 
Darling & Flaherty. The partnership con- 
tinued for a year. Upon its dissolution Mr. 
Flaherty and Mr. Spooner formed a partner- 
ship, which continued until Mr. Spooner re- 
moved to Minneapolis, in the fall of 1885. 
Then Mr. Flaherty opened an office in his 
own name, and has since continued in the 



practice of his profession. He w^is appointed 
county attorney in March, 1887, to fill a va- 
cancy caused by the appointment of C. L. 
lirown to the office of judge of the district 
court. He was elected a member of the 
common council of the village of Morris in 
the spring of 1888. Mr. Flaherty is one of 
the most active members, and is president of 
the county division of the Ancient Oi'dei' of 
Hibernians. In politics he is a republican,' 
in i-eligion a Eoman Catholic. 

On November 27, 18S4, he was married to 
Miss Nellie M. Sheridan, of this county, and 
has a famih' of one daughter, Blance, born 
August 8, 1886. Mr. Flaherty is a man of 
the strictest integrity, an able lawyer and a 
successful practitioner. He stands high, both 
as an attorney and a citizen, and is justly 
rated as one of the leading business men of 
the countv in which he lives. 



-*«; 



►-.»► 



-'"•^HARLES WINTERMUTE, of Morris, 
one of the earliest settlers of Stevens 
county, came to this section in 1871, having 
purchased the Gager stage station. He at 
the same time took a homestead and bought 
other land, and soon had a fine farm of some 
500 acres of land. He came to this State in 
1861, and in the fall of that v'ear located in 
St. Paul. In August, 18C2, at the time of 
the Indian outbreak, he volunteered and 
went to New Ulm Avith the column under 
General Sibley, at the time of the attack on 
that place, and went with the command to 
Lac-qui-])arle. He then returned to St. 
Paul, and was assigned to the quartermaster's 
department. He participated in the expedi- 
tion that captured the 300 Indians and took 
them to Mankato, where he remained the 
following winter. Returning to the State 
capital in the spring, he went to Fort Aber- 
crombie, and was there in thequartei-master's 



ST£F£A-S COUNTY. MIXXESOTA. 



389 



department one 3'ear and the same length 
of tinu' at Fort Wadswortli. He then pur- 
chased tlie trading post at the lattei' point, 
and remained there until he came to this 
county. 

Jlr. Wintermnte remained on his farm 
here until the time of the Custer massacre, 
in lST(i, wiien he went to Fort Custer, and 
was connected with the ti-ading post at that 
])oint foi- several years, his family residing 
on liis farm in this county. In 1880 he sold 
out his interest there and returned to his 
farm, where he lived until 1885, when he 
removed to the village of Morris, although 
he still owns and carries on the farm. He 
has been the president of the Old Settlers' 
Society a greater portion of the time since 
its organization, and was one of the original 
members. He was the president of the 
county agricultural society, for a number of 
years, and takes great interest in the growth 
and developementof this section of tjje State. 
He has also been connected with tiie mer- 
cantile interests of the village of Mori'is, 
having been in the lumber trade. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Chemung county, New York, March 14, 183-i, 
and is the son of Isaac and Sarah Winter- 
mute. On attaining his majority he entered 
into the mercantile trade at Horseheuds, a 
suburi) of Elmira, New York, where he 
remained some years. In thespringof 1859. 
he removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, where 
he was engaged in business for about two 
years, but, the war coming on, that country 
became unsafe for a Northern man and he 
returned to his home in the "Empire State," 
whence he came to Minnesota, as related 
above. 

Viw Wintermnte has one the finest farms 
in the State, it embracing some 540 acres of 
excellent land. It has a lake frontage of 
about two miles and a half, and contains a 
beautiful natural grove of tindjei- covering 
eighty acres. 



^Ai ARTIN DALEY, one of the most ex- 
*tl;^^ tensive and thorough farmers of 
Stevens township, was born in Ireland, in 
April, 1824, and is the son of Roger and 
Mary (McCoy) Daley, who were also natives 
of the Emerald Isle. He was one of a fami- 
ly of the following children, the others be- 
ing — Michael, John, Patrick, Khoda, Peter 
and James. He spent his early life in the 
land of his birth and on attaining; maturer 
years, left his home and went to England. 
Settling at Bradford, Yorkshire, he was em- 
ployed in the woolen factory of T. Salts, one 
of the largest in England, at that time. He 
remained there six years and tiien started 
for the United States, crossing the ocean in 
1849, and after spending six weeks on the 
Atlantic, landed at Boston, Massachusetts, 
and from there went to Lawrence, in the 
same State, and there worked in a bi-ick 
yard. After a short time spent at Lowell, 
he removed to Nashua, New Hampshire, and 
there for eight 3'ears was employed in a 
mattress factory. For four years and a half 
he was watchman in the machine shoj) of 
Gage, Warner tt Whitney, and for two 
years in the Underhill Edge Tool Works, after 
which he went to Rockingham county. New 
Hampshire, and there bought a farm and fol- 
lowed farming for live years. After that, 
selling out, he moved to Boston, anil for three 
years was engaged in a wine factory, and 
then went to ilarquette, Michigan, and 
worked in the mines. Nearly five 3'ears 
later he came to this State and took up 
eighty acres of land in ileeker county, and 
there made his home for twelve yeai-s, at the 
end of which time he removed to tliiscountv 
and preemj)ted Hid acres of land, whei'c he 
now lives. To this farm he has added until 
he has at the present, 480 acres of valual>le. 
arable land, and is one of the most extensive 
farmers in the town in which he resides. 

Mr. Dalev was married. Jaiiuaiy :.'7, Isjs, 
at Nashua, New Hampshire, to .Miss Katie 



39° 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MIXXESOTA. 



Duliei'ty, the daughter of Charles and Sarah 
(McNamara) Duherty. She was boi'u in 
Ireland, and was educated m one of the 
national schools of that oppressed land, and 
came to this country when she was about 
twenty. She is one of a family of nine chil- 
dren, the others being — John, Elizabeth, 
Mary, Sarah, Anna, Patrick, Michael and 
Anna. The last named died in infancy. Ey 
their union Mr. and Mrs. Daley are the par- 
ents of four children — Charles, John, Mary 
and Sarah. Charles died in 18S0, at the age 
of twenty-one. Mary is a school teacher, and 
has filled that position for six years. 

In his politics our subject is a democrat 
and has always affiliated with that party, 
lie has held the office of treasurer of the 
township for one term, and has otherwise 
taken an active part in jniblic matters. 



J^OLLIN J. HALL, one of Stevens 
^q^ county's most influential and highl\' 
respected citizens, lives on section 1(>, of 
Morris township. He was born in Norfolk, 
St. Lawrance county. New York, in 1837. 
His father ^vas Captain Pliilo Hall, a native 
of Vermont. His mother Mary (Morgan) 
Hall, was a native of the "Green Mountain" 
State also. Our subject's ancestry on the 
father's side were among the earliest settlers 
of the State of Vermont. 

Eollin attended school, and woi'ked in a 
sash, door and blind factory ; also did some 
labor on the farm. He worked his wa}' 
through school in this manner, until he was 
nineteen years old, when he left the scenes 
of his boyhood, and went to Lowel, Massa- 
chusetts, where he worked in a cotton factor}^ 
until 1861. At that date, he returned home, 
and October 30 he enlisted in the army, 
'■for three years or during the war," going 
into comjiany E, Ninety -second Regiment, 
New York Infantry. He was mustered out, 



1 January 5, 186.5. He went as a private, but 
was j)ronioted to a sergeant, and later to 

j first sergeant. At the Ijattle of Fair Oaks 
he was slightlj' wounded on the seal]). He 
was with his company during fifteen engage- 
ments. After his term of army service had 
ended he came back to Norfolk, New York, 
and engaged in the carpenter business, un- 
til 1871, when he came to Minnesota, and 
took a soldier's homestead, of 160 acres. Dur- 
ing 1874 and 1875, be was in the employ- 
ment of the Government, acting as agent of 
the Sisseton Indian Agency, in Dakota, 
teaching the art of farming to the tribes. 

]\[r. Hall was married, August 9, 1860, to 
Emma J. Purdy, b\Mvhom five children have 
come to bless their home. They are as fol- 
lows — Ernest E., Grace C, Harry R., Les- 
ter L. and Fay E. 

In politics, our subject is a republican, and 
has always taken great interest in iniblic 
affairs. He has held the various township 
offices, such as supervisor, town clerk, etc., 
and served for a number of years, iis the 
chairman of the board of count\" commis- 
sioners, being one of the most influential 
members of that bodv. 



^^«— 



^^^^ 



foHN HOPE, of whom this biographical 
sketch will speak, came to Stevens 
county in 1878, from Dakota county, Minne- 
sota, where he had been engaged at farming 
and threshing for two or three years. He 
came to his present home, on section 10, of 
Moore township, and purchased a half sec- 
tion of land from the I'ailroad company, af- 
terward adding eighty more, giving him a 
fine tract of -100 acres, upon which he has 
followed general farming and stock-growing, 
which has afforded him a fine income, and 
made him very comfortaljly situated. His 
farm is looked upon as one of the choicest 
and best improved in Moore township. 



STEVENS COUNTY, MIN2VESOTA. 



301 



^Fr. IIoj)e was Ijoi'ii in Boliamors count}', 
Canada, July 3, 1S44. and is the son of AVil- 
liam and Isabcllo (Ainslie) IIoi)e, natives of 
England. Tiie parents were married in Can-, 
ada, tlie fatlici' leaving his native country 
when twenty-one years old, coming to Mon- 
treal, Canada, where he remained until his 
death, in Juno, 1887, being at the ripe old 
age of ninety-four vears. He was a thrifty 
farmer, and belonged to the Church of Eno-- 
land. The family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, live daughters, and four sons, all of 
whom grew to years of maturity — Mai'v 
Ann, Jane, George, Isabelle, William, Hel- 
en, Thomas, Elizebeth and John. 

Our subject spent his school days in Kent 
county, Canada West, to which ])laoe his 
parents moved when he was about twelve 
3'ears old. When he reached the age of sev- 
enteen, he cpiit school and engaged in copper 
mining in the Lake Sujjcrior country of 
ilichigan. He remained at that for three 
years, and went to Wisconsin, near Racine, 
where he worked at railroading for a year or 
more, and then came to Jlinnesota, spending 
one summer in a saw mill at Minneapolis. 
The following winter he worked at similar 
work at Farmington, Minnesota, and from 
that point came to Stevens county. 

Mr. Hope was married during the winter 
of 1870, February 7, to Miss Flora E. Clap]i, 
a native of New Ham|)shii'e, who is the 
daughter of Orville and Lydia V. (Colburn) 
Cla]>p, natives of the sanu.' State. The 
mother still lives, but the father died when 
Mrs. 1 lope was only six months old. Tlicii' 
family consisted of live chililren — Lucy Ann, 
Mai-tlia Lousia, Koxa Adelaide. Flora Elize- 
beth and Horace. 

Mi's. Hope came to Wisconsin when (juite 
\'oung, and was married in Isante county, 
Minnesota. She is the mother of eight chil- 
dren — Isabella Vcstina, Flora Lousia, Ellen 
Elizebetli, Horace Gilliert, Lizzie Jane, Ethel 
Albina, William Elbiidge, Arthur J. and 



George Francis, who died in infancy. These 
children are, at this writing, all single. 

Mr. Hope is a republican, and has iield 
many prominent local offices, such as justice 
of the peace, assessor, holding the former for 
four years, and the latter for two years. He 
has been treasurer of his school district. No. 
31, ever since its organization. 



©UDLEY HALL, who now resides on his 
farm located on section 2, Horton 
township, Stevens county, wa.s boi-n in 
Trumlmll county, Ohio, June 2'!, 1841. His 
parents were Jacob and Electa (^AValdorf) 
Hall, natives of Pennsylvania. The mother 
died when her son Dudley was Imt nine 
years of age. The father came to Ohio in 
1838, then removed to Wisconsin, in which 
State he remained until 1807, and then went 
to Nebraska, and nuule it his home w'ith a 
daughter, till he died, in 1878. The family 
consisted of seven children — Nelson, Al- 
bert, l)udle\', Warren, Jacob, Lorena and 
Elizebeth. Warren and Jacob are now 
dead. Up to the age of nineteen years our 
subject attended school and worked, as most 
boys do. He received most of his education 
in Grant county, Wisconsin, living this part 
of his life with his uncle, Jesse Waldorf. In 
JVIarch, 1802, he enlisted in the Third Wis- 
consin CavahT, under Cajitain John V. 
Moore. He was mustereil out at Praire du 
Cliien in July, 1805, after having partici- 
jiatcd in many hard fought battles and skir- 
mishes, among which were Prairieville and 
Holly SjjHngs. The general duty of the 
command to which he belonged, however, 
was following up bush-whackers. Mr. Hall 
was confined in the liosjjital for a long time. 
After receiving his final discharge, in July, 
he spent the remainder of the summer of 
1805, at his father's, ami tlien left for Lake 
City, Minnesota. From that point he went 



392 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



to Minneapolis, where be remained until 
1S79, and in the spring of that year located 
his quarter section homestead where he now 
lives. He now owns 320 acres of well- 
improved hind, and does a profitable farm 
and stoclv-growing business. He was mar- 
ried, June 23, 1866, to Miss Julia Han- 
Ion, a native of Ireland, who came to 
America when but thirteen j'ears of 
age. She is the daughter of Timothy Han- 
Ion, and was educated in the land of her 
birth. Iler i)aronts both died in Ireland. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hall have had four children — 
Electa, Frank, George and William. Electa 
became the wife of Timothys Mulverhill ; 
she is now deceased, leaving one little 
daughter, Letta, in the care of her grandpar- 
ents. The remainder of Mr. Hall's family 
are at home. They belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

]\Ir. Hall is a republican. He has always 
taken an active part in local politics, and has 
hekl many offices, including those of school 
dii'ectoi'. and township ti'easurer. 

When living at Minneapolis our subject 
was engaged in tlie lumber business for 
Morrison Brothers, remaining there twelve 
years. He is a thoroughgoing man, a hard 
worker, and well deserves the success he is 
^M>\\ makinir of life. 



^Michael f. finnegan, of section 

P^Xi^ 24, Synnes lownsiiip, Stevens 
county, Minnesota, is a native of Lakeville, 
Minnesota, born August 15, 18.55. Plis 
parents were John and Bridgett Finnegan of 
Ireland, who imniigrated to this country 
about ISoT. landing at New York, and from 
there they went to Pi-ovidence, Bhode Island, 
remaining seven years. They lived the next 
five years in Chicago, Illinois, the father 
being a merchant there. From that city he 
moved to Lakeville, Minnesota, where he 



died August 4, 1886, being seventy years of 
age. He was a devout Roman Catholic in his 
religious training and Ijelief. The mother 
still lives at Lakeville. They had eleven chil- 
dren, all grown to maturity — Ann, John, Mary, 
Michael, Martin, Sarah, Patrick, Kate and 
Elizebeth. Two died — Hannah and Margaret. 

Mr. Finnegan received his schooling at 
Lakeville, Dakota county, leanng at the age 
of twenty-one years, after receiving a good 
common business education. He went from 
his class at school to his father's farm, which 
he operated until 1876, then came to his 
]iresent location, taking a homestead of a 
quarter section, and a tree claim of the same 
size, both situated on section 24, township 
123, range 43. He now has a full section of 
choice land, described as follows : The north 
half of section 24 and the south half of 
section 13. He does an extensive farm and 
stock business. At the present time (1888) 
he has 130 head of cattle of the Durham 
stock, and seventeen head of Norman horses, 
besides a span of mules and other stock. 

Mr. Finnegan was married at St. Paid, 
February 24, 1879, to Miss Mary Myers, a 
daughter of James Myers, of Lakeville, Min- 
nesota, she being the oldest of a fan.ily of 
seven children. She was educated at St. 
Paul, in the High School and Academy. Be- 
fore her marriage she taught school in Dakota 
and Scott counties. They are blessed with 
three children — Mary, John and Margrett, 
all living at home. 

Politically, our subject is a democrat, and 
has ever taken a very active part in the 
politics of both county and State. He was 
elected as county commissioner in 1881, and 
also has been township clerk of Synnes town- 
ship ever since it was organized. H e has 
l)een connected closely with the school mat- 
ters, having been clerk of district No. 29 for 
some years, and his name is prominently and 
indissolubly connected with theoliicial history 
of both town and county. 



STEl'/iXS COU-VrV, Af/.ViVESOT.t. 



393 



l^'HARLES OLSON. One of the first 
^y settlers of Stevens count}', and one of 
its most respected citizens is the gentleman 
whose name heads this sketch. He is a 
resident of the town of Framnas, living on 
section 24, of that sui)division of the county, 
where he has a valuable farm of KiO acres of 
excellent land. 

Mr. Olson is a native of Norway, and was 
born November 15, 182(3. He is the son of 
Ole and Christine (Gunderson) Kittelson, 
both of whom were, also natives of that 
country. He was reared in the land of his 
birth, and remained there until 1849, when 
he crossed the ocean to the shores of America. 
He landed at New York, and from there went 
to Chicago, but not finding any work there, 
he removed to Muskegon, ilichigan, where 
he stayed some three years. He had been a 
letter carrier in his native land, but sought 
other emi)loyinent on coming to this coun- 
try. In 1852 he went to Dubuque, Iowa, 
and was engaged in the sale of i)lows for 
three years, and then removed to Freeborn 
county, Minnesota, where he engaged in 
farming. He made his home there until 
1S66, when, in companj' with Thomas Hagen, 
Christian Jacobson, Louis Ilegland, Peter 
Bjork and Hans Goodhagen, he started for 
this county with ox teams. He arrived in 
this part of the State on the 22d of June, and, 
settling on the land where he now lives, went 
to woi'k to put up a brush shanty in which 
to dwell. For six weeks he slept in his 
wagon, and turned the first furrow in the 
soil of Stevens county and raised the first 
crop. This latter was potatoes and turnips. 
He had to go to Glen wood foi' provisions, 
that l)eing his nearest point. He followed 
trapping that winter, and made {|uite a 
success of his eiforts. The next year three 
more families settled in the county and 
fiom that on were followed i-apidh' by 
othei's. 

Mr. Olson was nuirried, June lU, 1855, to 



Mrs. Martha Evenson, a native of Norwav, a 
widow, and the mother of two girls, but has 
no children of his own. 

The subject of this sketch is a democrat in 
his politics, and has held the olHce of assessor 
six terms, and is the incumbent of the posi- 
tion at the present. He is a member of the 
Lutheran Church, and an active Christian 
worker. 



«^^ 



^^toN. HENRY H. WELLS, the president 
J^^A. of the Stevens County i>ank, at Morris, 
and a member of the mercantile firm of 
Wells Brothers vfe Hanson, of the same village, 
came to Stevens county in September, 1872, 
and entered into business with H. B. Woltf, 
and the co-partnership then formed existed 
until 1S82. During that time Mr. Wells em- 
barked in trade at Hancock, under the firm 
name of Wells, Ilelgeson & Company, and 
at Evansville as AVells Brothers & Company. 
Since disposing of his interest in the store 
with Mr. Wolff, he has established a business 
at Herman, in Grant county, under the name 
of Wells Brothers, and at Graceville as 
O'Neals & Wells. In 1882 he organized the 
Stevens County Bank, with a capital of 825,- 
000, and erected the building now occupieil 
by that institution. The capital stock of 
this bank was increased to §50,000 in 1883. 
The Bank of Grant County, at llernum, was 
established by our subject in 1SS3, with his 
brother being its president, and in which he 
still holds a considerable interest. He gave 
his attention largely to the banking business 
until March, 1887. when he ])urcha.sed the 
stock and good will of II. B. Wolfi' and the 
interest of K. C. Helgeson, in tiie firm of 
Ileltreson & Hanson, and, consolidating the 
two, the present firm of Wells Brotlu-i-s A: 
Hanson was formed. He hsis, also, been 
largely engaged in the grain business in the 
village since coming hen-, mid is one uf the 



394 



STEfEXS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



stirring business men of the community, and 
one of the leading citizens in this part of the 
State. 

Mr. Wells is a native of the province of 
Upper Canada, born July 9, 1S51, and is the 
son of A. W. Wells. lie spent his earlier 
3'ears upon his father's farm, his educational 
advantages being chiefly limited to the dis- 
trict schools of the town where he lived. 
On attaining his majorit\', he came to Minne- 
sota, and settling at Blakel\% Scott county, 
was there engaged in clerical labor for two 
years, and then I'eturned to his home to set- 
tle up his father's estate. That being done, 
he came to Morris, as related above. 

The subject of this sketch has occupied an 
important position in the official life of the 
county, since his advent here. In 18S1 he 
was elected to represent this district in the 
State Legislature. In 1883 he was chosen by 
the people to succeed AVashburn, in the State 
Senate, being elected on the republican ticket. 
He has served various terms on the village 
council, and in other local positions, and has 
in every way been prominently identified 
with the growtii and development of the lo- 
cality in which he resides. 

Mr. Wells was married on the loth of 
April, 1876 to Miss Clai-a Wolif. of Chaska, 
Carver county, Minnesota. They are the 
parents of two children — Amy and Cora. 



■LARENCE W. HULL, who carries on 
the general merchandise business at 
Hancock, is one of the leading business men 
of that village. He was born in Equinunk, 
Waj'ne county, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1857, 
and is a son of William H. and Clara T. 
(Sutherland) Hull. His parents were natives 
of Kew York State, but in 1856 they re- 
moved to Pennsylvania, where our subject 
was born. In 1859 they returned to the 
"Empire State," and located atBinghamton, 



where they both died — the mother May 31, 
1862, and the father August 14, 1866. Both 
lie buried at that place. The father was a 
miller and merchant during his lifetime. 
The parents had a family of two boys — 
Charles T. and Clarence W. Charles now 
resides at St. Paul, being emjiloyed as a 
travelling salesman b}- Maxfield & Seabury, 
wholesale grocers. 

Clarence W. Hull, our present subject, 
spent his early boyhood in attending school 
at Binghamton, Xew York. After the death 
of his parents he was brought up by his 
grandparents on his mother's side — Bethuel 
Sutherland and wife. When our subject was 
thirteen years old he came witii his grand- 
parents to IVfinnesota, and they settled in St. 
Paul. Mr. Sutherland, who was a bridge 
builder and contractor b}' trade, still resides 
in that citj'. Clarence Hull finished his 
schoolina: at St. Paul, receiving: an excellent 
education and supplementing'it with a two- 
yeai's' course in the High School. Wlien he 
was sixteen he entered the office of the mil- 
lionaire, Norman W. Kittson, as clerk, and 
remained with him for one year. He then 
entered the office of C. B. Xewcomb & Co., 
wheat l)rokers, and for five years served as 
their book-keeper. At the expiration of that 
time he decide to eng-aofe in business on his 
own account, and accordingly, in 1879, he 
came to Hancock, Stevens county, and, put- 
tine: in a stock of general merchandise, estab- 
lished the business Avhich he still conducts. 
He is a careful business man, and his u))right 
and honorable method of doing business has 
won him an extensive trade. 

Mr. Hull was married. June 18, 188-4, to 
Miss Minnie A. Wright, a native of liipon, 
Wisconsin, and a daughter of Henry W. 
Wright, a farmer near that city. Mrs. Hull 
grew to womanhood in her native State, and 
received an excellent education, being a 
graduate of the Ilipon College and also of 
the Milwaukee Art School. Mr. and Mrs. 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



395 



Hull have been the parents of two children — 
twins, born IsIav 5, 1885, named Xathan II. 
and Edward Hooker. Tiie last named died 
August 31, 1886; Xathan 11. is living. 

In political matters ^Ir. Hull is a repub- 
lican. He has always taken an active inter- 
est in ])ublic affairs, and since March, 1887, 
has been a member of the village council. 
Previous to tliis he held the office of village 
recorder for the period of six years. 



fDSEPH SCHMID, an energetic and thrilty 
agriculturist of the town of Baker, re- 
sidinson section -t, is a native of AVittenberff, 
Saxony, Germany, born ]\[arcli 17, 1830, and 
is the son of Thomas and ilary (ilaier) 
Schmid. His parents were born and reared 
ill that part of the fatherland, and there 
made theii' home. 

When Joseph was but six years of age 
he lost his father, and sometime thereafter 
his mother married Ignatz Moenhan. At 
the age of fourteen he commenced life herd- 
ing cattle, and followed that line of life for 
two years. Feeling the want of a trade, he 
then learned that of stone nuison, but in 
181S he started for the United States. 
Crossing the ocean, he landed in New York, 
and for between three and four years there- 
after was employed in a fire-brick manufac- 
tory in Clinton county. New York. From 
there he went to New Orleans, Louisiana, 
and engaged in steamboat work on Ihe river 
until 1855, when he came to Minnesota, and 
located at Lake Minnetonka, Hennepin 
county, where he preempted lOo acres of 
land. He followed farming there until May, 
IStU, when he entered Company Ci, Second 
Minnesota Infantry, and was with Sherman 
in his matchless " march to the sea." At 
the close of hostilities he was discharged, 
and returned to his home, and remained 
there until 1877, when he came to Stevens 



county, and took up a homestead of 160 
acres, where he now lives. He has 120 
acres under cultivation, has a large, comfort- 
able farm house, a neat frame barn, and 
other well-built out buikhnirs. 

Mr. Schmid was married, May 21, 1856, 
at Minnetonka, to Miss Elizabeth Schweikert, 
a native of Germany, and a daughter of 
Thomas and Maria (Eit) Schweikert. By 
this union tiiey have had a family of seven 
children, of whom the following is the rec- 
ord — Elizabeth, who was born April 18, 
1857, now the wife of John Leuthart, of Baker 
township; Joseph, born May 18, 1859, who 
married ]\riss Anna Po}ipler, living in Hen- 
nepin county; Maria, born January 2, 1S61, 
and cUed March 16, 1888; Thomas, born 
April 15, 1862 ; Lena, born April 27, 1864, 
now Mrs. Keinhard Yos, living in Stearns 
county, Minnesota; Frank, born July 27, 
1866; and Henry, whose birth took place 
December 26, 1868. 

The subject of this sketch is a democrat in 
his politics, and has held the offices of town 
supervisor, assessor, clerk of school board, 
and is the present chairman of the town 
board. He is a Catholic in his religion, and 
a zealous Christian gentleman. He still 
owns 130 acres of a farm in Heiine|)in 
county, and has been highlv successful in 
life. 

ssf AMUEL LARSON, the senior member 
of the firm of Larson & Nelson, deal- 
ers in general merchandise, in the village of 
Morris, is one of the oldest Ijusiness men of 
that place, having come here in July, 1871, 
in the first passenger coach to ari-ivc. Pi'c- 
vious to this, in 1870, he had ijeen here, and 
again in the spring of 1871. While here on 
the latter visit, he determined to locate, and, 
accordingly', returned to Chicago foi- a stock 
of goods and came back to Morris, as above 



396 



STEVFNS COUiVTY. MINNESOTA. 



mentioned. On his arrival he ])ut up a 
rough sliantv, in which he commenced busi- 
ness, and at the same time began the erection 
of a suitable store building. This was the 
second store in the young village, Wilkins & 
Woltf having opened tiieir establishment 
some four or five weeks previous. In com- 
pany witli j\Ir. Larson was his pi-esent j)art- 
ner, Nels A. Nelson, and the firm then formed 
has existed ever since. In their first store they 
did l)usiness foi- some three years, and tiien 
removed to their present location, on Front 
street. November 23, 1S82, their store, with 
its contents, was consumed bj' lire, with a loss 
to them of between $10,000 and $12,000, 
but undismayed, within three weeks they 
opened again in a rented building, and the 
following spring began the erection of their 
present h I ndsome edifice, into which the}' 
moved upon its completion. 

Mr. Larson has been prominently identified 
with the otlicial life of the count}' since com- 
ing here. lie was the first county treasurer, 
having been elected to that position at the 
time of the oi'ganization of the county in 
1871, and lield that office for eight years. 
In 18S-t he was elected to the office of clerk 
of the district court and is the present incum- 
bent. He has also served a number of terms 
as a member of the village council and on the 
school board, and has given much time and 
tliought to the cause of education. In 1882 
he was nominated for re])resentative in the 
Legislature by the republican party, but was 
defeated by a very small majority', as there was 
one democratic, and two republican candi- 
dates in the field, thereby dividing the repub- 
lican vote. Mr. Larson is the present treas- 
urer of both the county agricultural society 
and the Morris fire company. 

Samuel Larson is a native of Norwa\', and 
was born near the town of Skien, November 
23, 1813. When he was but five years of 
age he was brought by his ]5arents, Lars and 
Gunild Marie Larson, to the United States. 



The family settled in Manitowoc county, 
Wisconsin, wliere he was reared. lie, re- 
mained with his father and mother until 1862, 
aftei' wiiich he was employed at farm lal)or 
for two years. From 18G1 until 1870 he was 
engaged as a sailor on the lakes, and then, in 
company with Nels A. Nelson, who was, also, 
a sailor, came to the village of JMorris, where 
he has since resided. 

Mr. Larson was united in marriage, Decem- 
ber 30, 1870, with Miss Sina Anderson, and 
they have a family of six children, as follows 
— Lillie A., born January 20, 1873; Marie L., 
born October 22, 1876 ; Lewis M., born 
August 7, 1878 ; William T., born July 17, 
1880; Sophia A., born September 11, 1883, 
and Cora E., born December 28, 1886. 
Besides these they have one adopted child, 
Laura Johnson, who was born Sej)tember 5, 
1870. 



— ^.— — 



p^DWARD McROBERTS, a prosperous 
\i^ and industrious agriculturist, is a resi- 
dent of section 24, Eldorado township. lie 
is a native of County Down, Ireland, born in 
the year 1835, and is a son of Etiward and 
Jane (Johnson) McEoberts, both of whom 
are natives of that island. Edward remained 
on the home farm until he was nineteen 
years of age, when he started in life for him- 
self. Soon after leaving home, he came to 
thiscountry, and stopped in Oaktield, Genesee 
county, New York, where he worked for 
farmers for a period of two years and a half. 
Lie then went to Dodge county, Wisconsin, 
where he remained one year, working for a 
farmer. He then rented a farm, on which he 
remained two years, then purchased a piece 
of land, on which he lived until 1880. He 
enlisted in Company D, Eighth AVisconsin 
Infantiy (The Eagle Regiment), December 3, 
1863, and served until he was honorably dis- 
charged, on September 1, 1865. He partici- 



STF.VFNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



397 



l);ited in about twcTity battles and skirmishes, 
including' Ijaltles of Nashville, Spanish Fort, 
on Red River, etc. On the 4th of July, 
1865, as he was going on guard duty, he fell 
through a badly dila|)idated side-walk and 
broke his arm. which has never since regained 
its normal sha})e, and still causes him much 
annoyance. 

Mr. JIcRoberts was united in marriage 
December 3, 1857, to Miss Anna Jane 
Morrison, daughter of John and Anna Mor- 
rison, both of whom were natives of Ireland. 
The union has been blessed with the fol- 
lowing children — James, Emma Jane, John, 
Eli/.ebeth. Anna, Edward and "William. 
James is married to Miss Ida Iloath, and 
lives witii our subject; Emma is the wife of 
Mr. Kline, i-esiding in Eldorado. 

Mr. McRoberts and his family are ex- 
emplary members of the Baptist Church. He 
came to Stevens county in 1886, and settled 
on his present farm, on section 24, where he 
has since lived. He has a valuable farm of 
800 acres, owning section 13, and the re- 
maining 180 acres in section 24. He has fine 
building improvements, eleven horses, twenty- 
eight head of cattle, necessary farming im- 
plements, and is engaged in general farming 
and stock-raising, in political matters he is 
a democrat. He is a man of integrity and 
honoi', highly esteemed by all. He has held 
the ollice of supervisor for several years. 



•-^JS^-^- 



/^^EORGE E. DARLING, a prominent at- 
\^^ torney of the village of Jfoi'ris, came 
to that place in August, 1878, anil o[)ened an 
office for the transaction of the duties of his 
chosen jjrofe.ssion. In 1880 he entered into 
a partnership with C. L. Brown, which lasted 
for some three yeare. At the expiration of 
that time the firm of Spooner, Darling et 
Flaherty was formed, consisting of himself, 
L. C. Spooner and S. A. Flaherty, and con- 



tinued for about one vear. Mr. 1 )arlinir then 
retired from the copartnership, and since 
then has cai-ried on the business alone. He 
has always manifested a great interest in the 
growth and improvement of the village, and 
in official matters has had considerable influ- 
ence. He was appointed to the office of vil- 
lage justice in 1879, and in 1884 to that of 
village attornej'. In this latter position he 
remained for three years, and in ]S8(i was 
chosen judge of probate for the countv; in 
1888 he was again elected village attorney, 
and occupies that office at the ])resent writ- 
ing. He is a member of the board of trus- 
tees of the Morris Public Library, and one 
of the trustees of the Morris High School. 

Mi\ Darling is a native of North Royalton, 
Massachusetts, and was born February 20, 
1850. "While he was j'et a boy his parents, 
Samuel D. and Lydia (Marshall) Darling, re- 
moved to Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, 
where he grew to manhood, and received his 
education. He remained upon his father's 
farm, attending the district schools in his 
youth, until 1871, at which date he went to 
Milwaukee, "Wisconsin, where he entered a 
commercial college. One year later he re- 
moved to Chicago, and attended a special 
course at the Union Pai-k Theological Semi- 
nar}' for a year. At the expiration of that 
time he went to "Winneconne, "Wisconsin, and 
there engaged in the insurance business, and 
during his four years' residence there, studied 
law in his own office. In 1878 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and shortly afterward 
came to Morris and located. Since then he 
has been identified with the growth of the 
place, and is tiie owner of some $8,000 to 
$10,000 worth of real estate in the village. 
He has one of the finest law libiviries in this 
portion of the State, it embracing some 3<>0 
volumes, and was collected at an expense of 
over $1,500. 

The subject of this memoir was united 
in marriage November 16, 1875, with Miss 



39S 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Nellie M. Bailej', the daughter of Samuel 
and Rebecca (White) Baile}', of Fond du Lac, 
Wisconsin. By this union there have been 
born five children — George F., William M., 
Edward B., Gertrude F. and Earl N. 

In his political views, Mr. Darling affiliates 
with the republican party, and cast his first 
ballot for R. B. Ilaj^es, in the presidential 
election of 1876. Socially he is a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and 
of the Select Knights. He has been highly 
successful in his practice. A man of the 
strictest integrity, an able lawyer, and a suc- 
cessful business man, he holds the esteem of 
all witli whom lie comes in contact. 

• ■* > ^'^^'<'- — 



PETER G. LARSON, one of tiie most 
prosperous and well-to-do citizens of 
Stevens county, is a resident of section 22, 
Swan Lake township, where he is engaged 
successfully in general farming and stock- 
raising. He is a native of Norway, born 
in Bergen, December 4, 184:5, and is a son 
of Lars and Christina (Jorgenson) Peter- 
son, who are both natives of that kingdom. 
His father is a leading farmer and mechanic 
in his native land. Peter remained at the 
home farm until he was twenty-one years of 
age. In 1867 he started, in the sailing vessel 
"Norden" for tlie United States, and after a 
voyage of six weeks landed in Quebec, (Can- 
ada. After landing on American sliores, he 
went at once to Madison, Wisconsin, where 
lie worked out Ijy tiie month for two years. 
Tiie spring of 1867 saw liim journeying to 
Emmett county, Iowa, and for the next eight 
years he made his liome in the town of Swan 
Lake, engaged in general farming. As he 
had exhausted his means in seeking a place 
to settle he was in poor circumstances when 
he located in Swan Lake, Iowa, and he saw 
hard times there. He luckily sold his 
place when the citizens in that region were 



"booming "the county seat. After dispos- 
ing of his farm, on which he only received 
twenty-five bushels of wheat from seven 
crops, he came to Morris, Stevens county, 
Minnesota, on June 23, 1877, driving over- 
land with teams. As soon as he had looked 
the countr\' over a little, he selected a liome- 
stead in Swan Lake township, on section 22, 
on which he filed and settled, and has since 
remained. 

On the 1st of January, 1872, Mr. Larson 
was united in marriage with Miss Susan 
J<jhnson, of Emmett county, Iowa. She is a 
native of Norway, born in 1850, and came to 
tiie United States in 1S57. Wiien our subject 
was on his trip to Minnesota he left his wile 
wit ii his brother, in Iowa, where she remained 
some two months, when she joined her hus- 
band on their present place. They have 
been blessed with nine children — Christine, 
Lewis, Betsey, Heni-y, Emma, Nels, Martin, 
AVillie and Eddie, all of whom are living 
and are at home with their parents. 

Our subject is a prominent man of his 
township, and interests himself in all local 
movements. He is a staunch i-epublican in 
his ])olitical affiliations. He and his family 
are exemplary members of the Lutheran 
Church. 



MTON. H. 
W^ catetl 



"•V*"*! 



W. STONE, whose farm is lo- 
l on section 12, of Darnen town- 
ship, came to Stevens count}' in May, 1876, 
and at once engaged in mercantile business, 
under tiie firm name of Wolff, Wells & 
Stone, wiiich copartnership continued for 
tliree years. In 1877 he purchased a tree 
claim, and filed on the same as a homestead; 
this land is some two miles from the village, 
and is the farm on which he now lives. He 
at once commenced to improve his land, 
and in 1879 erected his present commodious 
residence. The same year he began to build 



STEV/CiVS COU.VTY. MIX.VESOTA. 



399 



a flouring mill, which was completed sufB- 
cioiitly to begin operations. "Riverside" he 
chose for tlie name of tliis mill, which is sit- 
uated and gains its power from Pomme de 
Terrc River; it stands at what is usually 
known as Old "Wadsworth Crossintr, on the 
old trail from 8t. Cloud to Fort Wadsworth. 
In 1884 this mill was changed to a roller 
mill, with a cajiacity of 100 barrels per day. 
It chiefly sup[)lies the local trade. Since 
he first began operations he has added to his 
farm tract, and now has 7(50 acres, known 
as ••Rivei'side Farm." A specialty is made 
of red polled cattle, he having imported 
the first into the county, in ISSi. This is 
paying a handsome profit, and is doing very 
much in the interests of good stock in tliis 
portion of the State. The demand is bv far 
gi'eater than he can supply at present. The 
present year (1888) he has joined Wells 
I'rothers & Hanson, in shipping cattle for 
the city markets. 

Mr. Stone was elected as a member of the 
State Legislature from this district, in the 
fall of 1877. At that date the district com- 
prised Pope, Stevens, Grant and Big Stone 
counties. Since that time he has attended 
strictl}^ to his private business, but this year 
has again been pressed into acting in the high 
capacity of republican presidential elector at 
large from Minnesota. 

Mr. Stone is a native of Eastern Ontario, 
and received his education at Toronto, then 
started for himself in 18.")5. He lived a 
short time in Wisconsin, and came to Min- 
nesota ill ISoG, lacating at 15(>lle Plaine, Scott 
county, where he engaged in the mercantile 
business for a year, after which he went to 
Jordan and bought a Houring mill; operated 
that for live years, then returned to Belle 
Plaine and again i-esumed mercantile life; 
after continuing five years he sold out and 
moved to Le Sueur, where he i)urchased a 
fiouring mill, which he ran successfully until 
187(5. 



While living at Belle Plaine he was ap- 
pointed postmaster, serving for three years, 
lie is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
having joined King Hiram Lodge, Ancient, 
Free and Accepted Masons, Ko. 33, at Belle 
Plaine; became a charter meml)er of the 
lodge when it started at Morris— Golden 
Sheaf Lodge, No. 133. 

The subject of this sketch was married in 
the fall of 1852, while yet in Canada, to Miss 
Polly Wells, sister of H. II. Wells, of Morris, 
Minnesota. The}' have a family of six bright, 
intelligent children to cheer and brighten 
their life's pathway. They are as follows — 
A. A. Stone, hai'dware dealer at Morris; II. 
W. Stone Jr., at present engaged in partner- 
ship with his father; ^[ary, now Mrs. O. S. 
Hogerman, of St. Paul ; Ida, the wife of W. 
J. Munro, of the Stevens County Bank, at 
Morris; Endora, wife of E. W. Randall, of 
Morris ; and Royal .\., who still leniains at 
home with his parents. 

The Stone family are nieinbci's of the 
Congregational church, at Morris; Mr. Stone 
is one of the trustees of that organization. 

At the time of the Indian outbreak ilr. 
Stone had started from his home, at Jordan, 
for Owatonna, to attend a republican conven- 
tion. While on his way he met a man who 
informed hira of the serious Indian trouble, 
making him promise not to tell the news to 
the settlers for fear they would be frightened 
and leave. Mr. Stone went his way and at- 
tended the political convention, and on iiis 
return, between Northfield and Lakeville, he 
founil the prairie swarming with ])eople leav- 
ing the countr}'. Upon arriving at Lakeville 
great excitement prevadcd, believing, as the 
nuijority of them did, that they were soon tobe 
overtaken and surrounded by 30,000 Inilians. 
He used every argument to quiet the fleeing 
people, but all to no purpose. He then went 
iiome to see what the state of aflairs were 
there. After being home two lioui-s he 
saddled his hoi-se aud started for St. Peter, 



400 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



picking up what men he could along the way 
to that place. When they arrived at Hender- 
son the company numbered about seventy- 
five men, who had joined them. They found 
the town almost deserted. Upon getting into 
St. Peter, the place was little less than packed 
with people from various parts of the country. 
At i p. M. the following day the company 
stalled for Fort Ridgely, marching all night, 
and were the first relief to arrive there. Mr. 
Stone remained nine days on the expedition, 
slee]")ingon the ground, with his saddle for a 
])illow. 

It is witli much pride that this truly worthy 
gentleman and pioneer looks back over the 
last Cjuarter of a century, noting the rapid 
growth and wonderful development of his 
State, and views with just satisfaction the 
fact that he has been so prominently identi- 
fied with its historv. 



ILLIAM W. HUNTLEY, a promi- 
iueiit citizen of Moore township, 
Stevens county, was born near Syracuse, 
New York, August lo, lS-t4. He is the son 
of Clark and Sarah (Castle) Huntley, who 
were also natives of JNew Y'ork State. TLe 
father died in tiuit State several years ago. 
William W. came to Wisconsin in 1S50, 
remained until he enlisted, August 1-i, 1SG2, in 
the Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer In- 
fanti'v,beiTicira member of the First Briijade of 
tlie Tiiirteenth Army Corps. He served as a 
soldier untilJune, 1865, when he received an 
honorable discharge at Shreveport, Louisiana. 
After his disciuirge he came back to Wiscon- 
sin, getting his final discharge pajjcrs at 
Madison. He remained in Wisconsin about 
tiu'ee months, after which time he went to 
Winneshiek county, Iowa, and from there 
to Cliickasaw county, of that State, where 
he remained for two years. He then left 
Iowa, and came to Fillmore county, Minne- 



sota, where he lived four years, following 
general farming and stock-raising. 

Mr. Huntley spent his schoolboy days in 
RolliniJ' Prairie Station, Dodge countv. Wis- 
cousin, receiving a good education up to the 
time he was seventeen years of age. He 
was married in Fillmore county, October 8, 
1867, to Viola Jenette Elliott, a native of 
Canada, and the youngest child of Plummer 
W. Elliott. She received her education in 
Iowa and Minne.sota. She is now the motiier 
of seven children — two boys and five girls — 
Leslie W., Lillie M., Frank, Pearl, Mabel, 
Mertie and Maud, all of whom are still 
unmari'ied and at home with their parents. 

Mr. Huntley is a staunch republican, and is 
a worthy member of the Congregational 
Church at Hancock. He, like nearly all 
Minnesota soldiers, belongs to the Grand 
Army of the Rebublic, being the present 
quartermaster of the post to which he be- 
longs. 

Mr. Huntlev came to Stevens countv in 



IS* 



lie now owns a half section of land 



on section 14, Moore township, and is an 
extensive farmer and graded st(^ck-i'aiser. 
He is public spirited and is favorably known 
througliout Stevens and the adjoining coun- 
ties. He has alwa\'s taken an active interest 
in all public afl'airs, and his name is promi- 
nently identified with the official history of 
the township in which he lives. For four 
years he held the ofiice of township treas- 
urer, and at present is a member of the 
board of township supervisors. 



^^EORGE C. THORP, tlie present chair- 
\t^A man of the board of countv commis- 
sioners, and one of the most prominent, in- 
fluential and wealthy citizens of Stevens 
county, is a resident of the village of Han- 
cock. Probably no resident of the county is 
more widely known throughout the county- 



STEVEJVS COUXTY, Ml.VNESOTA. 



401 



as lie lias carried on an extensive business in 
farming- and raising and liandling stock, and 
lias also been closely identilied with the 
official liistoi'v of the county since his settle- 
ment here. 

Wv. Thor[) was born in Ohittenden county, 
Vermont, December 23, 1835, and is a son 
of George and Christine (Ball) Thoi'p. His 
parents were natives of the same State, and 
his father was a farmer. Both father and 
mother are now deceased. 

George C, onr subject, spent his school- 
days in Vermont, and received .an excellent 
education. After leaving- school he followed 
teaciiing for two winters, and when twenty- 
one years of age he came West and located 
in Rice county, Minnesota, where he engaged 
in farming. In 1875 he came to Stevens 
county, and secured land, remaining- a few 
months. In 1877 he settled here, and has 
since made Stevens county his home. In 
1877, before leaving ]Vorthlield,Tiice count\', 
on a liftv acre field, he i-aiseil an averaji-e of 
forty-five bushels per acre, which was then 
the largest average cro]) ever raised in the 
State from so large a held. He now lives in 
the village of Hancock, where he has always 
taken a leading and prominent [lart in all 
matters of a public nature. He has held a 
number of local positions, such as member of 
the village council, and also some of gi-eater 
importance, as county commissioner, etc. 
He has extensive ])roperty interests here, 
owning over 1,000 acres of land, and every 
enterprise calculated to benefit either his 
town or county has always received his 
supp(M-t and encouragement. A man of the 
strictest integrity, of excellent executive and 
business ability, he justly ranks as one of the 
most sul)stantial and prominent citizens of 
this part of the State. 

^Ir. Thor]i was married on the 27tli of 
Kebruai-y, isr)2, to Miss Adelaide C, Caqien- 
ter. and they are tlu; ])arents of three chil- 
dren — Arthur C, Geoige C. Jr., and Clar- 



ciKi' .McK. Mrs. Thoqi wjis born in St. 
Albans, Vermont, in 1842, and is a daughter 
of Mclvenzie and .Juliette (Walker) Car- 
penter. 

In political matters Mr. Thorp affiliates 
with the republican party. 



-■*- 



-^- 



^^EORGE M. GILTINAN, the present 
\^^ efficient county auditor of Stevens 
county, is recognized as one of the most ca- 
pable, intelligent and thorough busmess men 
in this part of the State. Mr. Giltinan is a 
native of the city of Philadelphia, I)orn Sep- 
tember 10, 1853, and received his education 
in the excellent schools of that place. At 
the age of seventeen he entered the Poly- 
technic College of Pennsylvania, in the class 
of 1873, and was graduated from that insti- 
tution with honors. After leaving school 
he devoted his attention to civil engineering 
in his native State until coming to Stevens 
county, in the fall of 1876. He then pur- 
chased all of section 1, Eendsville township, 
and section 1, town of ]\f orris. The next 
season he broke some 1,100 acres of this land 
and commenced farming operations on an 
extensive scale, giving his chief attention to 
o-rain raising. He remained on his farm 
until 1886, and while there took an active 
interest in all town matters. He was for 
several years chairman of the town board of 
supervisors, and soon became recognized in 
the county as a man of more than ordinary 
ability, and one worthy of the confidence of 
the ])eople of the community, and when Dr. 
Thomas E. Hcenan was appointed to the 
office of consul at Odessa, Russia, and re- 
signed the position of auditor of this county, 
the county commissionei-s appointed Mr. Gil- 
tinan to fill the vacancy, and the jieople of 
the county confirmed the choice by electing 
him to the same office the following fall. 
In the meanwhile, however, in 188-1, .Mr. 



402 



STEVE. VS COUNTY. J/f.VA'ESOTA. 



Giltinan purchased an interest in the Sun, 
then edited b}' F. B. Chew, and assumed the 
editorial quill during the campaign of that 
year. The following year he disposed of his 
interest in the paper and devoted his atten- 
tion to other interests. 

Mr. Giltinan was united in marriage June 
28, 1883, with Miss Mary Donnelly, the 
daughter of the Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, the 
well-known writer on political econom\', the 
famous author of the " Cryptogram," " At- 
lantis," and " Eagnarok," and one of the 
most noted anthors of the continent. By 
their union Mr. and Mrs. Giltinan are the 
parents of three children — Katharine, George 
and Ellen. Mr. Giltinan is a member of the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians, and is the 
State Secretary of Minnesota. He is also 
the president of the board of directors of 
the Morris librarv. 



^^^ 



J^IKKEL H. ETTESWOLD, who is fill- 
^^<i%_ ing the office of chairman of the 
board of supervisors of the town of Framnas, 
resides on section 12. of that precinct, where 
he has a valuable farm of 240 acres of land. 
He is engaged in carrying on general farm- 
ivLs: and stock-raising, and is one of the most 
prominent agriculturists of the township. 

Mr. Etteswold was born in Norway, July 
22. 1838, and is the son of Henry and Siguor 
(]\Ionson) Mikkelson, natives of tiiat king- 
dom. He was reared and educated in the 
land of his birth, and there made his home 
for many years. His parents came to the 
United States in 1866 and settled in Pope 
county, this State, where his father died, and 
where his mother is now living. 

The subject of this sketch was united in 
marriage in the old country, in April, 1861, 

with Miss Anna Olson, and in 1869, with his 
famih', started for the New World. After 



a tedious passage across the stormy Atlantic, 
the emigrants landed at Quebec, Canada, 
from which port they came to Stoughton, 
AVisconsin. where they remained three years. 
At the end of that time. Islr. Etteswold and 
his family came to Stevens county and took, 
under the homestead act, the land where he 
now lives, and has made his home here ever 
since. 

Mr. and Mi's. Etteswold are the parents 
of eleven children, whose names are as fol- 
lows — Henr\' M., Julia (deceased), Julia, 
Olena, Jennie, Ole M. C, Anton, Walbuj-g 
(deceased), Peter L., Obert C. and Walberg A. 
All but two of them were born in the United 
States, and all but two of them are living. 

Tiie subject of this sketch is a republican 
in his politics, and a firm believer in the 
principles that guide the councils of that 
jiarty. He is a member of the Lutheran 
Chui'ch and a zealous woi'ker in the cause of 
religion and morality. A man of strict in- 
tegrity and uprightness, he owes his present 
position to his own industry and sterling 
worth, and merits the esteem in wliich he is 
held in the community where he lives. 



JOHN C. HANCOCK, one of Stevens 
county's most highly respected and 
progressive farmers, is a resident of Scott 
township, living on section 10. He is a na- 
tive of Washington county, Vermont, where he 
was born September IS, 1850, and is a son 
of Herman A. and Margrette (Cobui-n) Han- 
cock, natives of New Ilam])shire and Can- 
ada, respectively. 

Tiie subject of this biogi-ajjliical sketch, 
John C. Hancock, remained at home until 
twenty years of age, during which period of 
his life, he attended school and worked on tlie 
farm some, and at odd times during the win- 
ter season worked in the i'oi'cst, not unlike 



S7-Kyj^A-S COUNTY. MINNES07 A. 



403 



most New England 3'outlis Lave done. After 
lie quit school at home he worked in the 
woods for himself, from August until the 
following year in September. He then at- 
tended the Vermont Jlethodist E])isco|)al 
Seminary for one year. Shortly after he 
went to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and 
worked at lumbering in the woods, tluring 
the winter season, and on the rafts along the 
streams in summer time, until October, 1S75, 
when he came to Scott township, Stevens 
county, Minnesota, and filed a claim to 160 
acres, on section lu. where he still lives. 
xVfter securing liis land in a legal manner, 
he then returned to the l)ig woods and 
worked tliat winter, and drove logs in the 
spring. lie llicn came to his claim with 
oxen and went to turning over the native 
.sod where not many years before the Indian 
had built his camp-fires, lie broke prairie, 
and when too late to do that successfully, he 
worked at ocUl jobs until fail came, and then 
he went again to the forest region about 
Chippewa Falls, I'emaining until after tiie 
spring " drive " had been sent down. lie 
then returned to his newly-taken claim and 
did a good season's breaking again. His 
brother iuid put in a crop on the land turned 
over the first year for him. He finished 
breaking in July, and then secured his fii-st 
harvest. SeiiteniberO. 1877. he began anew 
era in his life, 1)\' mairying Johanna lleliand, 
daughter of Hans and Carrie Ilelland. Siie 
was born in Faribault, her father being 
among tiie pioneers of tiiat section of Minne- 
sota. Mr. and ,Mih. Hancock have been 
blessetl iiy tiie lurth of the following named 
chiklren — William B., born June 6, 1S78 ; 
Herman A., born October 15, 1879 ; John H., 
born October 8, 1881 ; Alexander J., born 
October 6, 1883; Marriet B., born October 
11, 1886, and Benjamin F., born January 
11, 1888. 

Our subject commenced life's journey |)en- 
niless, and has accumulated a handsome 



property, all by hard labor, with brains 
enough to manage the means ids toil brought 
to him. 

Since his marriage he has lived two years 
at Morris, and the remainder of the time has 
been spent in improving and carrying on his 
farm. He jiroved uj) his claim in 1880, and 
has about sixty-five acres under a good state 
of cultivation. He has a good team and con- 
siderable young stock on his place, including 
twentj'-six head of cattle, which soon grow 
into value. 

Politically, he is a democrat. He has often 
held local offices. He was marshal of the 
city of Morris one year; has been a cimdi- 
date for the ollice of .sherilf of his county ; 
has held all the township offices, and is now 
a member of the board of county commis- 
sioners. He belongs to Pinery Lodge, No. 
154, of the order of Odd Fellows, at Chippewa 
Falls, Wisconsin. 

He has always taken a inominent and act- 
ive part in all matters of a public nature, 
and the various township and county offices, 
which he has held indissolubly associate his 
name with the official history of the county 
in which he lives. 



/^ARRINGTON PHELPS. Among the 
^^y prominent citizens of the township 
of Morris is the gentleman whose name 
heads this sketch, who occupies the position 
of President of the First National Hank of 
Morris. He first came to this county in 
1875, and at that time made a jiuivliase of 
some 817 acres of land, embracing all of sec- 
tion 15 and the west half of the northeast 
quarter, and lots 1, 2, and 3 of section 21, of 
the town of Morris, or township 125. range 
43. This was railroad land, and in 1879 and 
the sjiring of 1880, he had some 320 acres of 
it broken, and in the latter year erected a 
house and other buildings and moved to the 



404 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



farm. Here, for five j'^ears, he devoted his 
attention to agricultural pursuits, vvitli con- 
siderable success. In 1885 the stockholders 
of the First National Bank elected him to 
the office of president of that monetary' in- 
stitution, and since then he has fulfilled the 
duties of that position, although he still re- 
sides on his farm and su]ierintends its culti- 
vation and operation. Besides this magnifi- 
cent estate, Mr. Phelps is the owner of an 
undivided half interest in all of section IC in 
the same town. 

The subject of this personal history was 
l)orn October 3, 1847, at North Colebrook, 
Litchfield count\-, Connecticut, and is the 
son of Edward A. and Elizabeth (Carring- 
ton) Phelps, natives of " the land of steady 
habits." Dra wing his earlier education from 
the unecpialed tuition of his parents, more 
than from the schools of the county of his 
birth, at the age of fifteen he entered the 
preparatory school at New Marlboi'ough, 
Massachusetts, where he remained for three 
or four years. At the expiration of that 
time he commenced a course of study under 
the tuition of Professor Josiah Clark, at 
Northampton, in the same State, and con- 
tinued the same for a year, and in 1866 ma- 
triculated at Yale College. He was gradu- 
ated from the latter institution of learning 
in the class of 1870, and for another year 
attended a course at the law department of 
his'' alma mater." 

]Mr. Phelps came West in 1871, and located 
at Madison, Wisconsin, and there continued 
his law studies and was admitted to'the bar 
at a session of the court at Milwaukee, in 
1872. On the 19th of September, 1S72. he 
was united in marriage with Miss Anna 
Catherine AVolcott. The next year and a 
half the young couple spent in Oconomowoc, 
Wisconsin. At the end of that term he 
removed to St. Paul, ]\[innesota, and entered 
the law office of Bigelow, Flandreau ct Clark, 
with whom he remained some years. While 



living there, in 1875, Mr. Phelps purchased 
what is known as Phelps' Island, in Upper 
Lake Minnetonka, which contains some 150 
acres. In the summer of 1876 he was admit- 
ted to practice at the bar of the Supi-eme 
Court of this State and gave his attention to 
legal business until coming to this county. 

The forefathers of Mr. Phelps, were among 
the colonists that came to the Massachusetts 
Bay colon}', on the " Mary and John," in 
1632. Two brothers, William and George 
Phelps, joined the little party that made the 
miihvinter march that \'ear under the 
guidance of Kev. Mr. Hooker, to the Con- 
necticut Valley, and settled at what is now 
the town of Windsor, Connecticut, of which 
place they were the founders. One of their 
descendants. Captain Josiah Phelps (3rd) 
bought a farm of some 800 acres in the town 
of North Colebrook, Connecticut, in 1752 
and 1753, which he willed to his grandson, 
Captain Arab Phelps, at the time of his 
death. The title-deeds of those dates are 
now in Mr. Phelps' possession, and are quaint 
and interesting curiosities. Captain Arab 
Phelps was a commissioned officer in the 
Continental armv during the Eevolutionarv 
War, at the close of which he settled on the 
family homestead and there raised his family. 
On his death the property descended to his 
son. Edward A., the father of our subject and 
sisters. These latter dj'ing unmarried, be- 
queathed their shai'e of the estate to the sub- 
ject of this sketch, as did his father, and he 
now holds the land by the original title, it 
never having been deeded since it was first 
purchased, but descending by will from owner 
to owner. The mother of Mr. Phelps, form- 
erly a Miss Elizabeth Carrington, was a 
native of Middleton, Connecticut. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carrington Phelps are the 
parents of one child, Carrington Arab, who 
was born May 28, 1876. 

A part of the old homestead in North Cole- 
brook was left this boy by bis grandfather, 



STEVEATS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



405 



Edward Arah Phelps, so that lie is the sixth 
generation of owners of that projiert}' by 
tlirect descent. 

Mr. Carrington Phelps is a trusted officer 
of his own school district. lie is active in 
all measures that will promote the welfare 
of agriculture and agriculturi.st.s. His farm 
is stocked with fine horses and thorough- 
bred Poland-Ciiiiui pigs, sluji'thorn aiul llol- 
stein cattle. 

lie lias been the means of nuiiiy settlers 
and niueh money finding their way to this 
county, and his name is indissolubly asso- 
ciated with the history of the progress and 
development of this region. 



^ RANZ MARTY, one of the intelligent 
IKS^- and enterprising citizens of the town 
of Baker, resides on sections (J and S. lie 
is a native of the republic of Switzerland, 
and was born in Canton Schwitz, August 4, 
1833. lie is the son of P'ranz and Ann 
(Marty) Mart}', both of whom were natives 
of that picturesque and beautiful land. He 
resided with his parents amid the rugged 
Alpine heights, until he had attained his 
eishteenth vear, when he entered the armv, 
and was on duty on the lovely and fertile plains 
of Northern Italy for four \-ears. lieturning 
to his home, he there remained about lour 
vears, and tlien, crossing the frontier into 
France, was there engaged in farming some 
fifteen years. 

In the year 1873 Mr. ^larty came to the 
United States, and for the first year resided 
on a farm in Massachusetts, but, at the ex- 
piration of that time, came West to i\Iinne- 
sota, and settled in Carver county. Pur- 
chasing seventy acres of land, there he car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits until four years 
later, when, setting out, he removed to Ste- 
vens county, and took up a homestead of 



160 acres of land, and a like number as a 
tree claim, upon which he now resides. 

The subject of this memoir was united in 
marriage, July 23, 1S63, witli Miss Freiia 
Marty, the daug+iter of John and Barbara 
^larty, and by tliis union they have seven 
children, as follows — Lena, born June 14, 
1866, now Mrs. Anton Abbott, of Dakota; 
Franz, born August 28, 1869; Emii, born 
Ndveniber 24. 1870 ; Josejih, born ilay (i, 
1S72; Bernard, born June 23, 1874; Lewis, 
born July 27, 1880; and Anton, born Decem- 
ber 20. 1SS3. 

In liis politics Mr. Marty is a democrat, 
and a staunch adherent to tiie jirinciples of 
that part}', lie and his family are members 
of the Roman Catholic Church, and are act- 
ive in all good work. 



-«" 



-♦► 



^IaMUEL BRADLEY SMITH, a liigldy 
"^^^ respected citizen of Stevens county 
and a resident of section 12, Rendsville 
township, forms the subject of this sketch. 
While he is an independent farmer, he is also 
masterof the carpenter's and painter's trades. 
He is the son of Samuel and Rhoda (Palmer) 
Smith, natives of j\Iason. IlilJsboro county, 
New Hampshire, and was born at that place, 
April 30, 1824. Samuel's father died when 
he was only four months old, and from the 
time he was tive years of age iie lived with 
a Mr. Gray's family, where he had a hard 
time, his master being an irritable, passionate, 
drinking man who treated him in an inhuman 
and lirutal manner. He reniaincd with tiiis 
fainilv until fourteen years old, receiving 
but two months" common schooling a year. 
After leaving this place he lived for iwo 
years with Mr. Ridout, where he was well 
taken care of, and as he says, this was the 
turning point in his life. Oliver Barrett was 
then chosen as his guardian, and he was 



4o6 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



tlie7i sent to live with and learn the tanner's 
trade of a Mr. Foster, where he remained 
for five years. May 1, lS-f5, he married 
Mary Mahitable Xewell, who was a native 
of New IIam]isiiire. After two years' absence 
he retui-ned to Foster's, with whom he 
worked six years longer, during which time 
lie received injuries which incapacitated 
him for longer following the tanner's busi- 
ness. He then learned the painter's trade, 
which, together with the carpenter's tratle, he 
has followed more or less ever since. AViiile 
eno-aaed at Foster's tannerv the second time, 
he liad the misfortune to have his wife taken 
from Idm, leaving two motherless children — 
Mary Eliza, born May 21, 1846, and died 
March 18, 1867 ; and James N., born Xovem- 
18, 18-18, who is still living. In the month 
of Novendjcr, 1852, while still working at 
Mr. Foster's, he married Mary Ann Hidden, 
daughter of Jesse B. and Grace (Hale) 
Flidtien, a native of New Hampshire, born 
November 3, 1829. In 1856, he came to 
Lake City, Minnesota, where he engaged at 
painting and carpentering, which work he 
followed until he enlisted into the Union 
service, August 15, 1862, in Company G, 
Eighth Minnesota Infantry, under Captain 
George Atkinson. He was with General 
Sibley in the Indian campaigns, also with 
General Sully in the far Northwest. In the 
autumn of 186-1, the regiment went South 
and was m the battle of Stony Brook, be- 
sides other engagements in and around the 
city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After 
chasing the Confederates through Tennessee 
and down into the State of Alabama, they 
were then ordered back to AVashington, D. 
C, where our subject was taken sick and 
sent to the hospital and the regiment sent 
to North Carolina. This was the first time 
he had ever been obliged to report " ofif duty." 
He remained in the hospital until he was 
finally discharged. May 24, 1865, at West 
Philadelphia. lie tlien returned to Lake 



City, ^linnesota, where he worked at coop- 
ering a number of years. In 1875 he returned 
to the State of his nativit}". New Hain})shire, 
and there worked at painting and farming 
for five years, after which he went back to 
]\[innesota, taking up a homestead in Stevens 
county on the northeast quarter of section 
12, Rendsville township. Here he has 
remained ever since, proving up his title with 
the Government in the winter of 1887-8. 
B\' his second wife, eight children have been 
born — Lizzie Frances, Frank Grenough, 
Charles Edwin (deceased). Cariie Emnui (de- 
ceased), George Adison (deceased), William 
Henry, Abby Foster, and Samuel Jesse. 

Oui- subject has had a very eventful life, 
and has been a public spirited man. lie held 
the office of justice of the peace in his liome 
township for a number of years. He is a 
mend)erofthe Congregational Church, and 
is a prohibitionist with re])ublican ))ri)clivi- 
ties, but does not believe in that portion of 
the republican platform that advocates high 
tariff. 



JMtON. CALVIN L. BROWN, the judge 
JL'^'iL of the district court of the Sixteenth 
Judicial District, and a resident of the village 
of Morris, came to Stevens count}' in July. 
1878, and opened a law office at the county 
seat. Having formed a partnership with 
George E. Darling, he carried on the business 
in that connection for a short time. About 
the 1st of January, 1880. the firm of Brown 
& Chew was formed by him and F. B. Chew, 
and this existed until March, 1887, when, on 
the appointment of Mr. Brown to the bench, 
the firm was dissolved. In the fall of 1882 
the subject of this sketch was elected to the 
office of county attorney on an independent 
ticket, and was re-elected for two successive 
terms on the regular i-epublican ticket with 
the endorsement of the democrats. In March, 



STEVIijVS COVXTY, M/X.VESOTA. 



407 



18S7. lie resigned this position to accept the 
appointment of judge of the district court, 
wiiich office he is now satisfactorily filling. 
lie is the youngest judge in years on tlie 
bench in tlie State of Minnesota, but his 
legal acumen and ability are unrjuestioned, 
and his decisions have given universal satis- 
faction. 

Judge Ihown is a native of Goshen, New 
Hampshire, and is the son of Hon. John II. 
Brown, now judge of the Twelfth Judicial 
District of this State, living at AVillmar, and 
Orrisa il. (Maxfield) Brown, his wife. IJis 
birth took place on the 26th of April, 1854, 
and he came to ^finnesota with his parents 
in the year 1855. while an infant. His father 
settled at Shakopee, Scott county, and there 
engaged in the practice of law, and remained 
there until ISTl, when he removed to "Will- 
mar, where he has lived ever since. The 
elder Mr. Brown was appointed to the bench 
in March, 1875. and has held the position 
ever since without opposition. lie is re- 
garded as one of the most able jurists in the 
Northwest. 

The subject of this sketch was reared be- 
neath the parental roof, and drew his primary 
education from the excellent schools provided 
for the youth of this State. Entering his 
father's office in his boyhood, he there laid 
the solid foundation of his legal training, 
and conquered the inti'icacies of the profes- 
sion that he had chosen before he attained his 
majority. In 1876 he was admitted to prac- 
tice at the bar, and opened an office for that 
purpose in Willmar, and remained there for 
some eighteen months, after which he came 
to Morris, as already mentioned. 

The nuirriage of Judge Brown and Miss 
Annette Marlow, of Willmar, took place 
September 1, 1879, and by this union there 
have i)een three children — Alice, Montreville 
and Edna. Judge Brown is prominently 
identilicd with the ^lasonic fraternity, hav- 
ing been a Mason in Sharon Lodge, No. 104, 



at Willmar. He is now a member of Golden 
Sheaf Lodge, No. 133, A., F. and .V. M.: 
"Mount Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, It. A. .M.; 
Bethel Commandery, No. 19, K. T. ; and 
Minneapolis Consistory, No. 2. He is also 
a meml)er of Morris Lodge, No. 55, A. O. 
U. W., and of Scott Legion, No. 13, Select 
Knights. 



[OHN MAGINNIS, a prominent and highly 
esteemed citizen of Stevens county, is a 
resident of section 12, Morris township. He 
is a native of New York, liorn December 11, 
1846, in Rochester. His jiarents were Patrick 
and Winnifred (De\4ne) Maginnis, nativesof 
Ireland. They came to this country in 1843 
or 1844, settling in the State of New York, 
where our subject was born. John left that 
locality with his parents, at the age of four 
years, going to LaSalle, Illinois, wliei-e they 
remained four years. In 1856 the v removed 
to Red Wing, Minnesota, where the mother 
now lives; the father died at that place in 
1877. John, however, left home in 1867, 
going to Montana, with Captain Steele and 
his brother. Major ilartin Maginnis, who 
was delegate to Congress from Montana for 
a number of years. John sto))ped for four 
yeai-s in Helena; two years of the time, he 
was boolv-keeper for a mining company. 
Later on, he aiul iiis brother purchased a 
mine and woiked the same. He came to 
Minnesota in 1872, and jnirchased a farm in 
Goodhue county. On the 15th of August, 
1875. our subject was married to Jennie, a 
daughter of Honorable Mr. (iraham, of 
Red Wing. By tlieir marriage four chil- 
dren have been born — ilary, Martin. Chris- 
topher. AViliiam G. In politics our subject 
is a democi'at. He l)ol(ings to the Ronmn 
Catholic Church. He has succeeded in his 
business undertakings remarkably well, and 
now owns 1,i.mX» acres of choice land, upon 



4oS 



STEVJ^NS COUNTY. MIA'NESOTA. 



which he raises grain and stock, ifi-. Ma- 
ginnis is a man of wide observation, intelli- 
gence and business ability, and ranks among 
the leading citizens of the western part of 
the State. 



-JSt^--» 



^ENRY B. WOLFF, one of the leading 
f''j>~ fai-ni machiner}' and grain dealers of 
the village of Moi-ris, came to that place in 
May, 1S71, three months previous to the lay- 
ing of the railroad track to the town. He 
came to start a store for the sale of general 
merchandise, and states that when he arrived 
here there was but one shanty on the site of 
the village, that of A. C. Satter. He hauled 
the lumber from Benson, and put up a store 
building, at once. This, the first in the em- 
bryo village, was 20x31 feet in size on the 
ground and was one and a half story high. 
About the middle of June he had his goods 
here ant! opened u]) his stock in the edifice 
which stood where Well Brothers & Hanson's 
establishment is now located. The firm was 
at first AVilkins it Wolff, but in the following 
spring the latter bought out his jiai'tner's in- 
terest and continued the business alone until 
fall. At that time he admitted as a partner 
II. II. Wells, and the firm so formed operated 
the imsiness for some twelve or thirteen years, 
after which Mr. Wolff bought out his part- 
ner, and had the full control of the business, 
but in March, 18S7, sold out to Wells Broth- 
ers. When the county first began to grow 
Mr. AYolff put in a stock of farm machinery 
and carried <n! that line of trade in connec- 
tion with hisotlier l)usiness. He is now giving 
his attention solelv to the sale of agricultural 
implements, wooil and<;oal, and the purchase 
and shipping of grain, as one of the firm of 
Wolff & Taylor P.i-others. When the rail- 
road track was first laid in to the village, the 
postoffice from the Folsom place Avas moved 



to Morris and turned over to our subject, 
but as soon as the trains were running into 
the little hamlet, the postoffice was regularly 
established, with II. B. Wolff as postmaster, 
which position lie held for some eight years. 
On the organization of the county, in 1872, 
he was elected one of the first justices and 
filled the post of court commissioner for many 
years. He has been very prominently identi- 
fied with the growth and progress of the vil- 
lage, and has served in the council. Besides 
the $1 2,000 worth of real estate that he owns 
in the village, Mr. Wolff is the owner of 
1,020 acres of partially improved farm land 
in this county and 160 acres of heavily 
timbered land in Todd county. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Wayne county, Pennsylvania, January 9, 
1842, and is the son of Paul and Caroline 
Wolff'. Ilis father was accidentally killed 
about IS-t."), and Henry remained with his 
mother in the place of his birth until 1855, 
when the family i-emoved to Carver county, 
Minnesota. At the age of twenty-one he 
entered the store of Newcomb c% Gregg, at 
Chaska, with whom he remained someeiefht- 
een months. From there he went to Shako- 
pee, where, for a like period of time, he was 
employed as a clerk, Eeturning to his na- 
tive State, he attended the comraerical col- 
lege at Kingston for one term and then came 
back to this State. He was employed, for a 
time in the store of Ingersoll & Co., of St. 
Paul, and afterwards in the store of Stow, 
Metzner& Co., of Belle Plaine. for four years. 
While there he was married to Miss Azelia 
Wells, and shortly after came to Morris. 

Mr. Wolff' is a member of Uolden Sheaf 
Lodge, No. 133, Ancient, Free and Accepted 
]\Iasons; Mount Lebanon Chapter Xo. 47, 
Koyal Arch Masons; Morris Lodge, No. 55, 
Ancient Order United Workmen, and Scott 
Legion, No. 13, Select Knights. He has al- 
wa3's been one of the most active business 
men of the place, always taking a part in all 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



409 



movements that were calculated to redound 
to the benefit of tlio community. He and his 
family are membcis of llie Congregational 
Churcii. He is tlie parent of two children — 
Uiifiis and Dora. 

J^^RED. W. HELLER, an extensive farmer 
M^ and prominent citizen of Everghide 
town.sliip, living on section 18, was born in 
Gei'many, June 5, 1853, and is the son of 
Gottfrii'il and Dora S. (Strasemann) Heller, 
lie was brought to America while an infant, 
in ISo-t. by his parents, who landed in 
Quebec, Canada. From that port the family 
went to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where 
the fatlier I'ented a farm and made his home 
until I8t!2, when they removed to IhifTalo 
county, in the same State, and there the 
elder ilr. Heller took u]) a claim of 1(!0 acres 
of land, and commenceil farming on his own 
account. 

The subject of this memoir remained at 
home with his parents, attending the district 
schools, from whence he drew the elements 
of a good education, and in assisting his 
father carry on the farm, until 1874, when he 
went into the photograi)h business. This 
]irofession he followed for some five years, 
and then came to Stevens county, ^Minnesota, 
and took up the claim to 141 acres of land, 
where lie now lives, and commenced its im- 
provement. ■ To his original farm he has 
added ItlO acres, and now owns a fine farm 
of ;'>ol acres of e.xcellent, aral)l(' land. 

Mr. Heller was united in marriage Sep- 
temi)er4, Ibso, with Miss Mary E. Vetter, 
and they are the parents of three children — 
Harvey II., Lila P. an<l Eveline (', all living 
and at home. Our suiiject is a member of 
the Methodist Church, and an active worker 
in that society. In his politics he is a re- 
publican and a staunch adherent' to the prin- 
ciples of that party, as formulated in their 



platforms. His parents are living on the old 
homestead in Wisconsin, and his father is 
quite a pi-ominent citizen of that locality. 

The township in which Mr. Heller resides, 
has always heretofore borne the name of 
Potsdam. It was organized . however, on 
the 11th of August, 1888, and was given at 
that time the name of Everglade. At the 
same time a full list of townshii) oflicei's was 
elected. 

■ • ■• > -?^{^-^— 

TEPHEN C MURPHY, the editor and 
pro]irietor of the Sun, one of the lead- 
ing newspapers at Morris, was born Jlay 2i>, 
1862, in Fond du Lac county, AYisconsin, and 
is the son of Michael and Rosa ^furphy. In 
1867 the family came to iliniiesota, and lo- 
cated in Goodhue county, where they i"e- 
mained until ISSO, at which time they 
removed to Stevens count\% where tbey now 
reside. 

The subject of this sketch received his early 
education in private and common schools in 
this State. He remained an inmate of his 
father's house, assisting the latter in his agri- 
cultural labors, until the winter of 1881-2, 
when he entered the office of Brown & Chew, 
in Morris, and there engaged in the study of 
law. He had, previous to this, however, 
taken a course at the State Kormal Scliool 
at Winona. Pursuing his legal studies, he 
remained with Messrs. Brown & Chew until 
November 20, 1884, when he was admitted 
to the bar. In July. ISS."). in company with 
A. Sanders, he purchased the Sun. and cai-- 
ried it on, with liis partner, until the l>egin- 
ning of 1886, when he bought out the interest 
of Mr. Sanders, and lias had the sole control 
of that journal ever since. The Sun wiis es- 
tablished in the fall of 1883, by F. B. Chew, 
the first issue bearing the date of Xovcnd)er 
22. It was at that time the only democratic 
paper in this legislative district, and conlin- 



410 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



ued to occupy that position until the present 
fall, when another was established at Grace- 
ville. "Wlien it was bought by Mr. Murphy 
it was, in a manner, in its infancy, but he has 
brought it to a high degree of excellence and 
influence in the community; has largely in- 
creased its circulation, and has made the job 
department an important feature of the busi- 
ness. He is one of the youngest journalists 
in the State, being but twent3^-three years of 
age when he assumed editorial charge of the 
paper. lie still ably supports the interests 
of the democratic party in the columns of 
the Sun, and it is the official organ of that 
organization in this part of tht State. He 
was elected to the office of justice of the 
peace for the village of Morris, in the spring 
of 1S85, when but twenty-three years of age. 



Tver T. TOLLIFSON, of the firm of 
IL Thorpe & Tollifson, druggists of the vil- 
lage of Hancock, was born in Monroe, Green 
county, Wisconsin, October 31, 1858, and is 
the son of Ole and Isabelle Tollifson. When 
he was about six years of age he was taken 
b}^ his parents to Estherville, Emmet county, 
Iowa, where he was raised, and whe're his 
father and mother still reside. He was 
reared on a farm, and received his education 
in the district schools of that county and in 
the Estherville High School. He remained 
at home, assisting his father in the labors of 
the farm until he was about t wen t\'-t wo j' ears 
of age, when he entered a drug store at 
Emmetsburg, Iowa, as a clerk. One year 
later he removed to Spirit Lake, Dickinson 
county, in the same State, and was there in 
a drug store for three years, and from there 
came to Morris, Stevens count}-, Minnesota, to 
take charge of the drug store of F. Buckentine. 
In the latter place he I'emained until August, 
ISSS, when the present tirni was formed 
and removed to Hancock. In company with 



Arthur C. Thorpe, he bought out the busi- 
ness stand of A. K. Gray, of that village, and 
is carrying on the trade at the present. They 
have a full stock of drugs, druggists' sundries, 
wall ])aper, musical instruments, sheet mu- 
sic, and such other goods as ai'e usuall}' car- 
ried by merchants in that line. 

Mr. Tollifson is a member of Golden Sheaf 
Lodge, ^""0. 133, A. F. and A. M., and of Mount 
Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, K. A. M. He is a 
registered ])harmacist, having passed the ex- 
amination before the pharmacy board, and 
received his diploma or testamur to that ef- 
fect. He is one of the active business men 
of the county, in whose hands lies the future 
commercial greatness of this portion of the 
State, and has a large and growing acquaint- 
ance throughout this region. 

The firm of Thorpe A: Tollifson com- 
menced business under most favorable aus- 
pices, and bid fair to take a front rank in 
trade circles. Having tlie good will of the 
community and an established patronage, 
by strict integritj' and a close attention to 
their business they will succeed in their en- 
deavor to meet the wants of the people of 
the vicinity. 

^H^HOMAS CHURCH, of section 20, Scott 
Ujlj township, Stevens county, is a son of 
Thomas and Mary (Buckley) Church. He 
was born August 7, 1855, coming to this 
county with his parents in 187*'. He has 
lived at home all the time, except two years 
spent in the Eocky Mountain countiy. He 
was there engaged as an engineer in a saw- 
mill for a time, also f(jllowed mining to 
some extent. When his peo])le (irst came to 
Amei'ica they stopped in \'enango county, 
Pennsylvania, ami the father was thei-e em- 
ployed on the railroad and in the oil wells 
for six years. From thei'e they mcjved to 
Scott township, Stevens county, Minnesota. 



STEVFNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



4>l 



At first our subject took a jireiJinption, 
wliicli iiiiallv became his homestead, which 
was proved upon in ISSl. It joins liis father's 
hind. He is still a single man and lives with 
ids parents, who farm extensively. AViien 
they came to the county there were only 
two liouses between their place and Morris. 
The iiail made a great loss to the ci'ops one 
year since they settled there. Our subject 
has about lifty acres under cultivation, lie 
lias been elected to the olfices of assessor, 
oonstai)ie for four years, supervisor one 
year, school clei'k five years, etc. lie is a 
member of the Ancient Order of llii)ernians. 
Division Xo. 1, at Morris, also is a mend)ei' 
of the lioman Catholic Church. He is an 
ailvocate of prohibition. His father's family 
consists of the following named cliildren — 
A[ary Francis (married to John F. Driscoll, 
an engineer at St. Paul) ; Honora E. is still 
unmarried and lives at St. Paul with lier 
sister, above named ; Thomas, who is the 
subject of the above sketch. 



— ^.^.-. 



[aNES a. JOHNSON, of the law, loan and 
insurance lirm of Johnson & Pickneil, 
located at the village of Morris, came to that 
place in the spring of 1878 and took up a 
homestead of 1(!0 acres of land on section 8, 
in Alorris townshij), on which he commenced 
farming operations. This he carried on for 
live years, and in 1SS3 moved into the village 
and entered inttt the law, I'eal estate and in- 
surance business. In the sunniu'r of 1886 
the present firm was formed. 

I\Ir. Jolinson is a native of .Marlborough, 
Cheshire county. New llam])shire, and was 
born March 1, ls.">:',. He is the son of liev. 
J. Gilbert and ILo.sanna (Iluckins) Johnson, 
tiie former a native of Claremont, that State, 
and a clergyman of the Methodist Ciuircii, 
and the latter of the State of Vermont. In 
1854 the subject of this memoir was brought 



to Minnesota b}' his parents, who located in 
Goodhue county. Heie Janes was reared 
and received his education in the district 
schools of that countv and in the lied "\Vin<r 
Collegiate Institute, being graduated from 
the latter in the class of 1873. He com- 
menced teaching school and foli<nved that 
profession until the early part of 1876, when 
he entered the State Normal School at 
Winona, from which he was graduated in the 
following Jauuaiy and resumed his woi'k in 
the school room as teacher. This he con- 
tinued until coming to Stevens county. Here 
he was principal of the Morris public schools 
during the season of 1878-70, and county su- 
perintendent of schools from J ul}', 1871*, to 
January, 1887. 

Mr. Johnson came to this count\' with G. 
E. Pichardson, and the two, putting up two 
shanties, one of which they occupied as a 
dwelling and the other as a stable, " bached ' 
for two seasons. On the 25tli of I)ecend)er, 
1879, Mr. Johnson was united in mari-iage 
with Miss Clara S. Fryberger, of Red Wing, 
and a native of Minnesota. By this union 
there have been born two children — Maud 
and Florence E. 

Mr. Johnson has always been active in all 
religious and educational work. He and 
Mr. Pichardson organized a Sabbath school 
the first summer they were in the county, of 
whicdi our subject was the sui)erintendent. 
He is the steward and one of the trustees of 
the Methodist church, of whicli ho and iiis 
wife are consistent members. He is the re- 
cording secretarv of Crystal Lodge, No. 132, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows; over- 
seer of Morris Lodge. No. oo. Ancient Order 
of United Workmen, a member of Scott Le- 
gion, No. 13, Select Knights, and th(> secre- 
tary of the local board of insurance under- 
writers. He has always taken an active in- 
terest in all matters of a public nature, and 
is one of tiie most highly respected citizens 
of the countv. 



412 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



/p^HARLESLEAMAN, one of the well-to-do 
N^y fanners of Stevens county, living on 
section 2. Baker township, has a vahuible 
farm of 320 acres, of wliich he has some 125 
acres under cultivation. He is a native of 
Hamburg, Germany, antl is the son of John 
Henry Charles and Emma Sophia (Little) 
Leaman. He was born March 22, 1840, in 
that ancient cit}', one of the few survivors of 
the Free Cities of the Germanic Confedera- 
tion, and was tliere reared. His parents 
wei'e in excellent financial circumstances, and 
he was given the advantages of a supei'ior 
education. At the age of fourteen he was sent 
to one of tiie famous colleges of the father- 
laiul, and remained thei'e for three years. 
When he was about seventeen 3'ears of age 
he came to America, and in the province of 
Quebec, Canada, was em])loyed in the lum- 
ber woods in the winter months and in log- 
driving in the summer for about five years. 
From tliere he went to Ontario, Canada, and 
there followed the same line of business for 
about the same period of time. Coming to 
the United States at the end of that engage- 
ment, he located in Winnebago county, Wis- 
consin, and there worked for Jones & Well- 
ington, in the woods and in saw-mills, for 
some ten years. In the year 1876 he came 
to Stevens county, in the employ of the same 
firm, and operated a farm that they owned 
here for three years, and then, starting for 
himself, took u|). under the homestead act, 
160 acres of land, and a like amount as a 
tree claim. On tiiis estate he has lived ever 
since, and lias. In' the exercise of industry, 
intelligence and economy, raised himself 
from the poverty in which he came to this 
county to comparative affluence and ease. 

Mr. Leaman was united in marriage April 
12, 186S, with Miss Sarah Visina, the daughter 
of Eli and Mary Jane (Hamilton) Visina, na- 
tives of Canada and Scotland, respectively, 
the formei' of French descent. By this 
union they have had a family' of four chil- 



dren — I\Iary Louise, who was I)orn January 
10, 1869 : Henry Charles, born December 12, 
1870; Howard Edgar, born September 6, 
1875, and Claude Garfield, boi-n November 
16, tSSO. 

The subject of this memoir is a republican 
in his politics, and has held the offices of 
assessor, supervisor and clerk of the school 
board since his advent here, and is one of the 
representative men of the town and county. 
He is a member of Golden Sheaf Lodge, ISTo. 
133, A. F. & A. M., of Morris and an active 
participant in all the work of the order. 



_ LEXANDER CALDER MACKENZIE, 
^?rfc>^l one of Stevens county's most pros- 
perous and highly esteemed citizens, is a res- 
ident of section 22, Eldorado township. He 
is a native of Scotland, born in IMorayshire, 
March 4, 1S4S, and is a son of Allen and 
Anna (Calder) Mackenzie, both of whom 
were also natives of Scotland. He renuiined 
at home, herding sheep and cattle until he 
was twenty-two years old, at which time he 
came to the LTnited States and settled in 
Massachusetts, where he worked eleven 
months in Ames' shovel factory. He then 
went to Burlington, Iowa, and after remain- 
ing there for a short time he went to St. 
Paul, Minnesota, and worked through har- 
vest on the surrounding farms. In October, 
1871, he went to Red Wing, Minnesota, and 
after remainino- there durino; the winter he 
returned to St. Paul, where he remained four 
months. He was then engaged by Captain 
Amlerson, who was supjilying Fort Steven- 
son, Fort Totten and Fort Buforil with cat- 
tle by contract. He remaineil with C;n)tain 
Anderson, gathering cattle around Hutchin- 
son, Minnesota, until October 7. 1872, when 
he retui'ned to St. Paul and secured work in 
the St. Paul Harvester Works. He remained 
with this corapanjf until April, 1878, when 



STEVf:/VS COUNTY, AffyXESOTA. 



•413 



lie came to Stevens county, and took a home- . 
stead of eiglity acres and a tree claim of 100 
acres in section 22. Eldorado township. 
Later, he transferred eighty acres of his 
tree claim to his homestead and has proved 
them both up. He now has a well improved 
farm and a "-ood tree claim. althouo:h in ISSfi 
he lo.st all his trees and crop by hail, in 
1882 he lost his crop of hay. l)arn and some 
machinery by fire, and in ISSl ho lost all his 
horses, which numbered seven, by the nasal 
gleet, lie now has four horses and twenty 
two head of cattle and is entjaffed in jjeneral 
farming and stock-raisino-. 

His father's family consisted of the fol- 
lowing chddrcn — John, who was city physi- 
cian of Edinburg at the time of his death, in 
1S72 ; Donald, accountant in the lioyal Bank 
of Edinburg; Colin came to this country 
with our subject, for his health, and returned 
to Scotland in October, 1872, and remained 
there until the spring of 1877, when he paid 
a second visit to the United States but re- 
turned on the event of the father's death, in 
October, 1877 ; ]\Iarv. who is tiie wife of Mr. 
McGregor and. lives in Scotlanil ; Peter, sin- 
gle and living on the old homestead ; Allan, 
a doctor in Much Wenlock. Shropshire. Eng- 
land : James, who is a drutjtrist in Ledbui'v, 
Herefordshire, England ; William, single and 
living in Eldorado township ; Geoi-ge and 
Elizel)etli. both of whom are single and liv- 
ing on the old farm in Scotland. 

Oui- subject was uniteil in marriage, Octo- 
ber 2it. 187i. to Miss Annie Stuart Macin- 
tosh, daughter of ^neas and Isabelle Mac- 
intosh, who were natives of Scotland, and 
this union has been blessed with the follow- 
ing childi-en — Allan, Mary, Annie, Isabelle, 
Kenneth and Jessie, all of whom are living 
and at home. Mr. Mackenzie is a man of the 
greatest honor and integrity. He was aji- 
pointed the first chairman of the board of 
supervisors by the county commissioners, 
and now holds the position of town clerk. 



He and his family are exemplary members 
of the Presbyterian Church. He is a repub- 
lican in his political affiliations, and takes an 
active interest in all public and educational 
matters. He may justly be termed one of 
the leading citizens of the northern part of 
Stevens countv. 



-«-; 



«<►► 



I^^^^ENNIS HUNTLEY, one of Stevens 
J— ^ county's successfid farmers, livinjr on 
his fine farm, situated on section 14. Moore 
townshii). is a native of Vermont, havinsr 
been born in the town of ]\[organ, Caledonia 
county, of that State, July 3, 1842. His 
parents were Dennis and Lydia (Hartwell) 
Huntley. The mother died when our sub- 
ject was a year and one-half old, at Jforgan. 
Vermont. The father moved to East Pan- 
dolph, Massachusetts, when l^ennis. Jr.. was 
but three years of age. His father remained 
there seven years, but when the son was five 
years old he went back to Vermont, and 
lived with a brother; he also lived for a 
time in St. Johnsberry. In the spring of 
185.5, when our subject was thirteen years 
old, he came West with his father, who set- 
tled in Washington countv, ^[mnesota, and 
there remained until the war broke out. 
Dennis Huntley, Jr.. our subject, then en- 
listed, in August. 1862, in the Seventh INIinne- 
sota Volunteers. He was discharged. August 
3. 1865, at Fort Snelling. ^finnesota. He 
made a good and brave soldier, taking part 
in the battles of Tui)elo. Mississippi, Fort 
Spanish.Xashville.thesiege of Mobile, besides 
numerous other engagements of less historic 
note. When the Indian War broke out in 
August. 1S62. Comjjany C. of the Seventii 
Minnesota regiment, were sent to Fort Pip- 
ley, remaining there until November, then 
were sent back to Fqrt Snelling. and from 
there to Mankato. where, during the winter 
of 1862-1863, they guarded the Indian cap- 



414 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



tives liehl tliere, and, finally, took the same 
to Davenport, Iowa. The command then 
started across the plains, under General 
Sible\% to Lake Jesse, Devil's Lake, captur- 
intr Little Crow's son. During' all tliis ion":, 
tedious and dangerous campaign, our subject 
never siiirked a known duty, but was always 
seen on duty :it command of his superiors. 
After his experience in the North at soldier- 
ing, our subject was sent to 8t. Louis on 
provost guard duty for a short time, and 
from that time on was in active field service 
in tiie South, as before described. At the 
close of the war he returned to Marine, 
Washington c<junty, Minnesota, remaining 
until 1867 with his father. He was married, 
April 2. to Miss Llelen Saunders, daughter of 
Jacob W. Saunders, of IMassachusetts, who 
came to Wisconsin in 1850, and to Minne- 
sota, finally locating in Douglas county. 
Her motiier died when Mrs. Huntley was 
six years old, and was the first woman bur- 
ied in the cemetery at Osceola, Wisconsin. 

Mrs. Huntley was the only child by her 
fathei''s first wife. Her father married for 
his second wife Christene Peterson, a native 
of Sweden, by whom six children were 
born — Frank, Lillian, Emma, Eveline, Arthur 
and Charles. Mrs. Huntley was educated in 
the common school manner, leaving her 
classes, when eighteen years of age. She had 
been in Minnesota with her mother, when 
nine years oki, she came to Marine, where 
her father w-as, in 1869. He was one of the 
first settlers in Douglas county, and the first 
man to locate on Parker's Prairie; Mr. and 
Mi's. Huntley are the parents of seven bright, 
intelligent children — Herbert Henry, Ernest 
Howard, Alfred Wyuuxn, Artliur Dennis, 
C'bauncy Leroy, Cliarles Kutherford and 
Myrtle lilossom. The children are all at 
liome and unmarried. 

In politics Mr. Huntley liolds that the re- 
publican party is the nearest correct of the 
two great striving political parties. He is 



an exemplary Christian and a member of 
the Congregational Church, together with 
his family. Being an active, public-spirited 
nutn, he has been honoretl with local offices, 
including that of assessor, which place has 
came to be looked upon as one of much lous- 
iness importance to the taxpa3'ers. He is 
an active working member of the Grand 
Army of the liepublic, and his three oldest 
sons belong to the "Sons of Temperance," 
and another son is about to become a mem- 
ber of that order. 

JMIeNRY S. JUDSON, the cashier of the 
-A^ JL First National Bank of Morris, is a 
native of Racine. Wisconsin, and was born 
September 21, 1861. His parents, Joshua 
and Mary Ann (Higgs) Judson, were resi- 
dents of that part of the "Badger" State 
previous to their marriage, and wei-e there 
w(Hlded. His father was born in I'ultney, 
Vernuuit, where tliegraiulfather of our sub- 
ject had settled on coining from Connecticut, 
years before. The former lived there until 
a young man, and then removed with his 
parents to Racine, where Sheldon Judson, the 
grandfather of Henry, had a large timber 
estate, one of the most extensive in the State. 
]\[rs. Mary Ann Judson was a native of St. 
George, Bermuda, and was of Scotch and 
English descent. Her father was eng-aged 
in shipping interests, owning several vessels. 

The father of our subject was engaged in 
the stock business at Racine, and was, also, 
the cashier of Ullmann's bank, in that city, 
until 1863, when he removed to Milwaukee, 
where he entered into the commission busi- 
ness, and remained tliere until 1871, and 
then came to Minnesota and located at Aus- 
tin, where he died March \i, 1873. 

Henry S. Judson remained with his mother 
after his father's deatli until 1875, when he 
entered the law office of E. O. Wheeler, at 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



4'5 



Austin, to study for that profession. Ilis 
earlier education was acquired in an excel- 
lent ]n'ivate school in ilihvaukee and in the 
High School of Austin, Minnesota. lie re- 
mained in Mr. "Wheeler's ofHce until lS77as 
a student, and then as clerk. In December 
of the same year he went to St. Paul, and 
entered the employ of the Harvester Works 
of that ])iace as clerk in the collection de- 
partment. In April, 1879, he came to Morris, 
and took charge of the collecting business of 
the Bank of Morris, and remained thei'c until 
the fall of 1882. Having then attained his 
majority, he was appointed cashier of the 
bank, and filled that position until May 1, 
1883, when he resigned it with the intention 
of removing to Montana, but sickness and 
the death of the party whom he was going 
with occurred and the pi'oject was given up. 
In November, 1883, he purchased a half in- 
terest in the hardware establishment of C. 
II. Allen, of Morris, but, not liking the busi- 
ness, soon disposed of it. In December of 
the same year he went to (xraceville, Min- 
nesota, and established the Bank of Grace 
ville, and operated it until April 20, when he 
sold out, and, returning to Morris, assumed 
the position of cashier of the First National 
Bank, which position he now holds. In May, 
1886, he was appointed land agent of the 
Manitoba Railroad for this district. lie is a 
courteous, atfalile gentleman, and has the 
reputation of being one of the ablest finan- 
ciers and best business men of this portion of 
tile State. 

While a resident of Graceville he was 
nominated for nieiiiberof the village council, 
and, running against two other tickets, was 
elected with but one opposing vote. He was 
also the treasurer of the board of trade of 
that village. In 1887 he was ncjininated for 
the office of member of the village council of 
Morris l)y the democrats and endorsed by 
the repul)licans and elected, lie was ap- 
pointed chairman of the finance committee 



of the town board and was one of the cor- 
])orators and the first president of the lilor- 
ris Loan and Building Association. 

Mr. Judson is member of Morris Lodge, 
No. 55, A. O. U. W.; Scott Legion, No. 13, 
Select Knights, and Bast Grand Master of 
the Order; of Crystal Lodge, No. 132, I. O. 
G. T.; and Lodge 5!t. Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, of St. Paul. He is a 
man always ready to take iiold of any cele- 
bration, entertainment, or anyliiing of the 
kind, and when he does, can make it a suc- 
cess; and every enterprise calculated to bene- 
fit his town or county always receives his 
hearty support and encouragement. 



-«- 



«4►- 



J^RANK WILCOX, who is recognized as 
jL"^ one of the most capable and successful 
business men in the southern jiart of Stevens 
county, is a member of the firm of Ilelgeson 
it Wilcox, the most extensive dealers in gen- 
eral merchandise in the village of Hancock. 
Mr. Wilcox IS a native of Oiiiro, Winneitago 
county, Wisconsin, where he was born on 
the 3rd of January, 1855, and is a son of 
William and Ann (Wells) Wilcox. Ilis par- 
ents wei'e originally from Canada, but they 
came to the " States " at an early day, and 
settled in Wisconsin. The father died in 
Delaware, Iowa, in 1872. The mother is 
still living with Frank, being now lifty-tlirce 
years of age. The parents had a family of 
two boys — Frank, of Hancock, and Byron, 
who is clerking in a general store at Whea- 
ton, Jlinne.sota. 

Frank Wilcox, whose name heads this 
article, finished his education at Delaware, 
Iowa, completing his schooling when .seven- 
teen years of age. He then began learning 
the art of telegraphy at Delaware. Iowa, and 
during one winter served as - night o|><-r- 
ator" at that place. He then went to St. 
Joseph, Michigan, wheie he was engineer in 



4i6 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



a factory for two years. He then returned 
to liis former home in Iowa, and a short time 
hiter, in 1S75, he came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, where he has since lived. For 
a few montlis he was a clerk in tlie store of 
Wolff & Wells, of ilorris, and at the expira- 
tion of that time he came to Hancock and 
purchased a lialf intei'est in the mercan- 
tile business of Wells, Helgeson & Co. The 
business is now carried on under the firm 
name of Helgeson & Wilcox, and they carry 
the heaviest stock of o-oods in the village. 
Tiiey have an extensive trade, as both mem- 
bers of tlie firm are recognized as men of the 
ucmost integrity. 

Mr. Wilcox was married January 9, 1878, 
at Minneapolis, to Miss Mattie Y. Danforth. 
a daughter of Dudley Danforth, who is men- 
tioned at length elsewhere in this Album. 
The\' are the parents of two children — Meitie 
and Clara. 

In political matters, our subject has always 
supported the republican party. He has 
taken an active interest in public matters 
since he settled here, and is recognized as 
one of the leading business men of the vil- 
lage. He has held various local offices, in- 
cluding tliose of president of the village 
council, village treasurer, etc. 



^;^EORGE H. MUNRO, the present .sheriff 
V^^ of Stevens county, came to Morris in 
September, 1877, and was engaged in the 
purchase of wiieat foi- the Davidson Elevatoi- 
Company and D. \l. Sutherland & Co. 
unlil Mie spi'ing of 1882. At that time lie 
bouglit tiic tw(} drug stores of J. P. II. Mor- 
ns and F. M. Teele. and, consolidating them, 
was engaged in tlie ^irug trade, under tlie 
firm name of George H. Munro it Co., 
until June. ISS."), when he sold out his inter- 
ests here antl returned to his former homo, in 



Charlestown, Massachusetts. After spending 
some six months there and about the same 
time in St. Paul, Minnesota, he came back to 
Morris in March, 1884r, and again entered into 
the drug trade. In this he continued until 
May, 1886, when he finally closed it out. 

Mr. Munro was elected to the office of 
sheriff in ]S"ovember, 18S-t, and, being re- 
elected in the fall of 1886, he holds tliat office 
at the present writing. He is a native of 
Sidney, Cape Breton Island, a part of the 
Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, and was 
born March 12, 1846. His parents, Hon. 
Hugh and Hannah (Croll) Munro, were 
natives of the Highlands of Scotland and of 
Xova Scotia, respectively. His father left 
the land of his birth when a young man and 
came to Cape Breton, where he engaged in the 
profession of teaching, and was the superin- 
tendent of schools of the Eastern District of 
the Province for some \'ears. Later in life 
he was eno-aged in the mercantile trade at 
Sidney, and while there was elected member 
of the House of Assembly, Provincial Pai'- 
liament, and served for twelve years. In 
1860 he was made chairman of the board of 
jiublic works, and removed to Halifax, the 
capital of the Province, and held that posi- 
tion until the change of Government in 1804. 
In 1866 he removed to Boston, Massachusetts, 
and in 1873 he came to Minnesota, and 
for a year made his home in St. Paul. The 
next year he was employed in buying wheat 
at Benson for the old Miller's Association. 
In 1875 he came to Morris and bought wheat 
for the same company, and died in St. Paul 
in 1878. His wife died at Morris in 1886, 
and both are buried at St. Paul. 

The subject of our sketch remained with 
his j)arents until 1863, wlien he went to lios- 
ton. Massachusetts, where he made his home 
until 187-:!, at which time he came to St. 
Paul, Minnesota, and entered tlie employ of 
the St. Paul & Pacific Pailroad Company 
in their car shojis. After remaining there 



sr/':r/-A'.s count v. m/a'A'esota. 



417 



for some time, and in the employ of Seymour, 
Sabin & Co., of Stillwater, he came to Morris 
in 1877, as above mentioiiod. 

ft[r. l\[unr() was uniteil in marriage in Octo- 
ber, 1S7!>. witii Miss Eliza Somes, of Charles- 
town, Jlassaciiusetts, and by this union is the 
])ai'ent of twociiildren — Lawrence and James. 
Mrs. i\[iinro is a native of Massachusetts. 

]\[r. Munro is a member of Golden Sheaf 
Lodge, No. 133, Ancient, Free and Accepted 
Masons; Mount Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, 
Royal Arch Masons; Bethel (^ommandery, 
No. lit. Knights Temi)lar, of Morris; and 
Osman Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, 
St. Paul. He lias held offices in all these 
lodges, and is the present Captain-Genend of 
the Commandery. He has ever been one of 
the most active members of the Morris fire 
department, and is the present chief. Every 
enterjirise of a j'ulilic nature calculated to 
benefit either town or county receives his 
active sup])()i't and ene<(uragenient, and his 
genial ways and prompt and officicmt manner 
of doing business have won him fiieniis and 
supporters wherever his acquaintance ex- 
tends. 



WILLI.^M D. Mackenzie, a pros- 
perous and esteemed citizen of 
Stevens county, is a resident of section 32, 
Eldorado township. He is a native of Scot- 
land, born in Moray-Shire. Scotland, Septem- 
ber Hi, ls(i2, and is a son of Allen and Ann 
(Calder) MacKenzie, who are also natives of 
that land. He remained on the home farm, 
until he was twenty-one years of age, when 
he came to the United States. He came to 
Minnesota and took a homeste;ul on section 
32, Eldoi'ado township, Stevens county, 
where he has since remained. He also has 
a tree claim on section 18, and is in company 
with his Ijrother Peter in farming pursuits 
He proved up his claim in 1SS4, anil has a 



fine farm, with about 125 acres under culti- 
vation, with good building improvements. 
He is successfully engaged in general farm- 
ing and stock-raising. He is an exemplary 
7nember of the Presbyterian Church. In 
political matters he affiliates with the repub- 
lican party, and takes an active interest in 
all local affairs. 

'HRISTIAN KLINE, one of Stevenscoun- 
ty's must prosperous citizens, is a resi- 
dent of Pepperton township, on section 14. 
He is a native of Germany, l)orn July 10, 
1841. He remained at home until he was 
fourteen years old, going to school previous 
to that time. At the early age of fourteen 
he started alone for the United States, and 
settled in the town of Schenectady, New 
York, where he had an older brother living. 
There he learned the broom maker's trade, 
at which occupation he was engaged until 
ISGl. November 14, 1861, he enlisted in the 
First United States Lancers, and went to 
Staten Island, where the regiment was dis- 
banded, and he returned to Elmira, New 
York. lie then entered Companj' A, Tenth 
New York Cavalry, and they went to Get- 
tysburg, where they wintered. In the spring 
of 1862 they went to Black Ttiver, five miles 
from Baltimore, which place they made their 
headquarters until the fall of 1862. They 
then went to Washington, where they were 
supplied with horses, they having been on 
foot previous to this. Their first engage- 
ment was at the second battle of Bull Run, 
where the captain anil most of the company 
were taken prisoners by Fitz Hugh Lee's cav- 
alrv, our subject being one of those who es- 
caped. After those who were taken prison- 
ers were paroled, and the entire company re- 
united, they were put in Kilpatrick's Brigade 
and ordered to Leesburg. At this place the 
company saw their second battle, in wliich 



4ie 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



tliey lost thoir bugler, and during the time 
from this battle until the spring of 1863 our 
subject's company was inactive. In the 
spring of 1863 the company participated in 
Stoneman's raid on Eichmond, then Pleas- 
anton's raid on Richmond, in which our sub- 
ject liad a horse shot from under him. After 
the Confederates had withdrawn from Fred- 
ericksburg, the company went on a recon- 
noitering tour witli Pleasanton, and were at 
the battle of Brandy Station, Avhich was tlie 
most terrific cavalry engagement in whicli 
the Armv of the Potomac participated. 
After tliis battle they were successively in 
the followino' eno-a"ements — Aldee, Middle- 
burg, Uppersville ; after which they returned 
and crossed the river at Harper's Ferry, on 
which trip the company guarded the wagon 
train, continuallj' fighting and holding tlie 
" rebs " back. They were in the battle of 
Gettysburg, on the 2nd and 3rd of July, 1863, 
and in this engagement quite a number of 
the company were killed. After the battle 
Gregg's division, to which the company be- 
longed, followed the Confedera.te army, cap- 
turing 1,-100 prisoners. They pursued the 
rebel ai'iiiy as far as Bristol Station, where 
tliey waited for the armv to come up. They 
then followed on to Kappahannock Station, 
where the army went into winter quarters. 
Gregg's division did picket duty until the 
spring of 1SGJ-, when Slieridan took charge 
of the cavah'v, and our subject was under 
him at the Ixittie of the Wilderness, after 
whicli they went to Petersburg. Our sub- 
ject received his first wound at Hatcher's 
Run, where lie was shot through tlie arm, and 
for the next two months was in Carver's 
Hospital in Washington, when he was honor- 
ably discharged. 

Mr. Kline then returned on a visit to his 
native land, and in the spring of 1865 he re- 
turned to this country and remained in New 
York State for two \'ears. He then went to 
St. Paul, Minnesota, and bought eighty acres 



of land, on which he remained engaoed in 
agricultural pursuits until 1879. He then 
moved to Stevens county, Minnesota, and 
took his present farm in Pepperton township. 
He now has a line farm of 160 acres, 100 
acres being under cultivation, and with good 
building improvements. He also holds his 
farm near St. Paul, Avhich he rents. He is a 
man of the highest integrity and honor, and 
is held in high esteem b}' all who know liim. 

Mr. Kline was married in New York 
State, March 6, 1869, to Miss Carrie Kline 
and they have been blessed with eight cliil- 
dren — Henry, Louise, Chi'istian, Anna, Alex- 
ander, Otto, William and Allie. 

Mr. Kline is a member of Overton Post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, No. 99, and is 
a republican politically. 



Charles a. pepper, one of the lead- 
ing dealers in agricultural implements 
and grain bvu'ers of the village of Morris, 
came to Stevens county in the fall of 1875, 
and took up a soldier's homestead on section 
3-t, in township 125, range 43. Here he put 
up the first house west of what is now known 
as the Baker farm, and commenced the culti- 
vation of the soil. The following spring he 
erected more comfortable buildings, and 
moved his famil\' there. He remained on 
this place for some eight years and then 
removed to the village of Morris, and entered 
into the farm machinery business. In 1887 
lie entered into partnership with N. R. Spurr, 
who had been in the grain trade, and consoli- 
dated their businesses, and tliey are now 
among the leaders in those lines. 

When the town of Pepperton was organ- 
ized it was named after our subject, as he was 
the first actual settler within its limits and 
had built the first house thei'ein. He was 
elected the first assessor of the precinct at 
the first town meeting, which was held at 



STEVEN^S COUNTY, AfllVNESOTA. 



419 



liis liouse, and lias filled the office of justice 
of tiie peace for a miinher of years. The 
first religions services in tiiat township were 
held at his house, as W(!re the first school 
meetings and other public gatherings. 

^Ir. Pepper is a native of Jhirliiigton, 
Des Moines county, Iowa, and was born 
June 1, 1845. His jiarents, Charles and 
Louisa Pepper, were natives of Prussia. 
His father died in July, 184:5, of wounds 
received in arm}' service, and the mother of 
our subject, in IS.'iO, ninrried Rev. Charles 
Ilollmann and moved to .^[innesota about 
1855. His step-father served for a iiunilicr 
of years in the vai'ious German j\[ethodist 
Churches of this State, but is now living in 
retirement, being superannuated. He is 
next to the oldest clergyman of that denomi- 
nation in the United States, and has in his 
possession one of the first Bibles ever printed. 
This book was pi-inted in the early ])ai't of 
the fifteenth century, and of this edition 
there are only three known to be in exis- 
tence; 81-000 has been offered for it whicii 
offer was tleclineil. 

Charles A. Peppei* remained with tiie 
family until May, 1802, when he went to 
Quincy, Illinois, and entei'ed the college there. 
In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in Company 
II, Seventh Iowa Cavahy, whicii was as- 
signed for duty to the department of lEissonri. 
The regiment was employed in frontier serv- 
ice until May, 18(J6, when he was discharged 
and returned to Illinois. His step-father was 
then located at Galena, and thither he went, 
and the same year he started a sash and 
blind factory, in that city, under the hi'm 
name of C. II. Bigelow & Company. He 
remained there until 1871, when he came to 
this State and located on a farm in Washing- 
ton county. He made his home there until 
coming to Stevens county, as above related. 

Mr. Pejiper was married. October 5, 1870, 
to Miss Charlotte Bach, and by this union 
they have a family of five children — Charles 



L., Flora L., John L., AlfrettaC. and Gilbert 
N. Our subject is a member of Crvstal 
Lodge, No. 132, I. O. O. F ; Morris Lodge, 
No. 55, A. O. U. W.; Scott Legion, No. 13, 
Select Knights and of Overton Po.st, No. 90, 
G. A. K. In the post he has held the office 
of quartermaster for the last three or four 
years. 



JOHN HUNTER. One of the most sub- 
stantial, reliable and highly respected 
citizens of the village of Hancock is the iren- 
tleman whose name heads this article. He 
was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 14th 
of September, 1839. and is a son of Frank 
and Mary Ann (McCulloch) Hunter. His 
parents had a family of four children, 
named — John, Robert, Joseph and ^fartlia, 
all of whom are still living in the land of 
their birth except our subject. The father 
died in Scotland in 1883. 

John Hunter, our sui)ject, grew to man- 
hood and received his education in his native 
land, attending school until he was about 
fifteen years of age. When seventeen he 
beg.an learning the shoemaker's trade, and 
followed that until 1868. At that time, 
thinking th:it in the New World he would 
find a better field for his energies and easier 
opportunity to attain a competency than in 
the land of his birth, he came to the United 
States. Landing at New York City he at 
once came to Fillmore county, Minnesota, 
and for two months lived at Chatlield. He 
then settled at Eyota, where, for two yeare, 
he was engaged at railroad business. At tiie 
expiration of that time he .settled at Delano, 
Wright county, where he followed his trade, 
slioemaking. After living there three yeai-s 
he then abandoned his ti-ide on account of 
sickness, and went to Campbell, Wilkin 
county, Minnesota, where he was engaged in 
railroail business for three y<'ars. At tlie 



420 



STEVE A^S COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



expiration of that time he came to Hancock, 
and has since been in the employ of tlie Man- 
itoba Tiailroad Company at that place. He 
has worked for the company, all told, about 
fifteen years. He has quite extensive prop- 
erty interests here, and owns a farm of 2-K) 
aci-es in Moore township, which he rents. 

Mr. Hunter was married before leaving 
Scotland, on the 21st of October, 1862, 
to Miss Mary S. Shelly, a native of Scot- 
land, and a daughter of James Shelly. 
Their marriage has been blessed with .seven 
children — Jennie, Mary, Agnes, Anna, John, 
James and William. Jennie mari-ied Albert 
Giles, and they live at Wilmot, Dakota Ter- 
ritory. Mary and Agnes are school teachers 
by profession, having finished their educa- 
tions at the Normal School at St. Cloud. The 
rest are at home. 

Mr. Hunter, in political matters, has 
always had a tendency toward republicanism, 
alth(mgh he does not recognize the right of a 
party to wholly control his political action, 
and would more properly be classed as an 
independent. The family are active and ex- 
emplary members of the Congregational 
church, and Mr. Hunter has been a deacon 
and trustee in this organization during the 
most of the time he has lived here. 



-«" 



f^COB TROST, an enterprising agricult- 
urist, of the town of Potsdam, has his 
home on section 14. He is a native of Min- 
nesota, having been born in Dakota count}', 
November 7, 1860, and is the son of Jacob 
and Kate (Veith) Trost. His parents were 
natives of Germany, who came to the United 
States in 1853, and settled in Dakota county, 
Minnesota, among the first to locate in that 
part of the State. His father was a veteran 
of the late Civil War, and died February 7, 
1888, and the mother still makes her home 
in Dakota county. 



The subject of this sketch remained at 
home with his parents, assisting in carrying 
on the farm and in attending the district 
schools, until he was about nineteen years of 
age, when he came to Stevens county, and 
located on the farm on which he now lives, 
which his father liad taken as a homestead 
about a year and a half previous. He at 
once commenced the cultivation of the soil 
and the improvement of the ]ilace, and now 
has a fine farm of .320 acres, and devotes liis 
attention to general furmin"- and stock-rais- 

Mr. Trost was united in marriage. January 
21, 1884:, with Miss Winna Falimar. and by 
this union is the parent of two children — 
Lydia C. and Edward J., l)oth uf whom are 
living. 

In his political views Mr. Trost is in ac- 
cord with the principles of the democratic 
party, as formulated in the platforms of that 
organization, and votes for the candidates 
presented by regular conventions of the same. 
He is one of the industrious, energetic and 
thrifty farmers of Everglade township, and 
one of its most prominent citizens. Mr. 
Trost is tlie proprietor of a steam thresher, 
which he runs in the fall of each year. 



«^- 



'HARLES E. CAMP, formerly a prosper- 
ous farmer of section 29, Darnen town- 
ship, now a resident of Morris village, was 
born at St. Paul, Minnesota, July 20, 1865. 
He is the son of John H. and Amelia 
A. (Sherwin) Camp. His father was a na- 
tive of Ashtabula, Ohio, and his mother's 
birthplace was in Massachusetts. They 
came to the State of Minnesota about 1858, 
Mr. Camp engaging in the wholesale dry 
goods business, which he followed until 1875. 
From that time until about 1881 he followed 
farming at and near Willmar, Kandiyohi 
county, Minnesota, where he had over 2,600 



STEVE N^S COUNTY, M/NXESOT.I. 



421 



acres of 1:111(1. From tlie farm lie went to 
Minneapolis, where lie engaged in the real 
estate business, i'cjilowing that line until the 
time of his cleat li, which occurred in April, 
1SS5. lie lia,d large landed interests in Kan- 
diyohi, Chippewa, l'o|)e and Stevens coun- 
ties, amounting to upward of 31,0()() acres 
in total. 

Ciiai'Ies E. Camp, who inherited much of 
his father's business ability, commenced life 
on his. own account, in ISSG, buying his j)ros- 
ent farm of G40 acres, all of section 29, in 
Darnen township, Stevens county. That 
season he made much change in the appear- 
ance and value of bis newly purchased home, 
by the erection of good buildings, etc., at an 
expense of $-i,500. His farm now has 200 
acres under a high state of cultivation. 
Like many another intelligent farmer in 
^rinuL'Sota, lie has turned his special atten- 
tion to the breeding of draft horses, which 
has come to be a great and {)iolitable liranch 
of farm business. 

Our subject was married to Miss Catharine 
Z. Laild, of Cottage Grove, Washington 
county, Minnesota. No young man in the 
country starts out in life under more favor- 
able circumstances than does Mi'. Camp, 
lie takes an active and prominent part in all 
public affairs, especially of those matters re- 
lating to schools and educational facilities, 
and is, at this writing, a meniber of the 
school lioard of the district in which he lives. 



-■*>-& 



i"-^- 



/^ RICK E. SOLSETH. Among t he jirom- 
\^Qf inent citizens of the town of Framnas, 
who are of Scandinavian birth, is the gentle- 
man of whom this sketch is written, and 
whose name stands at the head of it. He is 
a resident of section 12, of that suljdivision 
of the county, where he is carrying on agri- 
cultural pui-suits on his farm of 320 acres. 



Mr. Solseth was born in Norway, ^lay 25, 
1S30, and is the son of Erick Erickson and 
Julia (Olson) Solseth, who were natives of 
that kingdom. He was educated in the hmd 
of his birth, and raised to theage of fifteen in 
that country. In 1840 he came to the 
United States with his parents, and after 
crossing the Atlantic Ocean, landed at the 
port of New York. From the latter place ilie 
family proceeded to Albanv' on a Hat-boat, 
and fi-om there to IJulfalo by the Erie Canal. 
Taking the steamer at that city, they were 
soon landed at Milwaukee, and shortly after 
settled on a farm at Vorkville Prairie, Ra- 
cine county, Wisconsin, where they remained 
some nine years. At the expiration of that 
time they removed to Fillmore county, Min- 
nesota, and located on a farm. 

The subject of this sketch was reared upon 
a farm, and thoroughly learned the rules of 
that business. He remained with his parents 
until 1ST2, when be came to Stevens county, 
and on his arrival here, took up, under the 
homestead act, the 160 acres of land to 
which he was entitled, and which is a part of 
his present farm. 

One of his first acts in the county was a 
movement toward the organization of the 
town and the school district, circulating the 
necessary petitions himself. He was success- 
ful in his efforts, and the town was organ- 
ized, and the whole township made one 
school district. Through his endeavors the 
next sjjring a school-house was erected and 
education commenced. His first winter here 
was a veiy hard one, five persons being 
frozen to death that season. 

Mr. Solseth was married, September 3t>, 
1855, to Miss Augusta Nilson, and they are 
the parents of four chiklreii — Ei'ick and 
Nels living and two deceased. He lias been 
chairman of the town board, and town clerk 
and is justice of the peace and the postmaster 
of Nash postoilice. He is a rejmblican, and 
a member of the Lutheran Church. 



422 



STEVEXS COUXTV, uVfNNESOTA. 



R. SPURR, the senior partner in tlie 
firm of N. E. Spiirr & Co., dealers in 
grain and agricultural implements, in the 
village of Morris, came to that place in ISSO 
and commenced the purchase of wheat foi" 
the Davidson Elevator Company. Thi'ee 
years later he put in a stock of groceries 
and was engaged in that line for about three 
years and then, disposing of it, went into the 
grain trade for himself. In 1887 the present 
firm was formed by the admission of Charles 
A. Pepper, who was engaged in the sale of 
agricultural im])lements, and the two busi- 
nesses were consolidated. Since coming to 
this village, Mr. Spurr has taken a deep in- 
terest in the welfare of the commimity and 
the growth of the place, and has served as a 
member of the council at different times, and 
is the present president of the village board. 
The subject of this sketch is a native of 
Columbus. Chenango county, New York, and 
received his education and resided there 
until he had attained his twenty second year. 
In 1859 he came "West and located at Sauk 
Rapids, Minnesota, and there was engaged in 
the purchase of grain, and had the flour 
trade with the Indian agency. In the spring 
of lS(iO he fitted out a company and went to 
Pike's Peak, and for two years was engaged 
in freighting from Omaha and Plattsmouth 
to Denver, Colorado, and the mines. K.t the 
expiration of that time, he returned to Sauk 
Rapids, and was in the milling business until 
August, 1862, vrlien he enlisted in Company 
I, Seventh Minnesota Infantry, and was 
mustered into the United States' service on 
the 14-th of that month. The regiment 
was with the expedition to the Crow Wing 
Agency until late that fall, and then re- 
turned to Mankato, and guarded the captive 
Indians there, until the savages were hung. 
From there they went with General Sibley 
to Fort Abercrombie, but in the autumn of 
1803 were transferred to the army in the 
South. They wei'e assigned for duty to the 



Sixteenth Army Corps, and participated in 
the three days' battle at Tupelo, Mississipi)i, 
atid in nuinv others, including the sanguinarv 
conflict at Xashville, where the ''boys in 
blue,'" under General Thomas, annihilated 
the army of the rebel General Hood ; and in 
the siege of Spanish Fort. From the latter 
place, they marched to ]\Iontgomery, Ala- 
bama, and from there to Selma, in the same 
State. There the}' were mustered out and 
were discharged at St. Paul, August 11. 1865. 

On retiring from the service Mr. Spurr 
was engaged in freighting for the Govern- 
ment to the frontier ]>osts most of the time, 
until 1872. He then commenced contracting 
in railroad work, and helped grade the rail- 
road through this county, and was in other 
employments, until 1880, when he came to 
Morris and located. He is a member of 
Crystal Lodge, No. 132. I. O. O. F.; and is 
the Post Commander of Overton Post. No. 
'■•it, G. A. R. He is a member of the Board 
of Education, of the village, and takes great 
interest in all school affairs. 

Mr. Spurr was married, in 1870, at Sauk 
Rapids, to Miss Amelia R. Hughes, and the 
issue of this union have been three chiUii'en — 
Stephen II., Hugh R. and Zoe. 



J^RANK GRENOUGH SMITH, who lives 
xP^ on section 21, Rendsville township, is a 
farmer, house painter and grainei-. He is 
the son of Samuel Bradley Smith ; his mother 
was Mary Ann (Hidden) Smith. He was 
born in New Hampshire, September 23, 1853, 
and is a graduate of the graded school at 
Lake City, Minnesota. At the age of four- 
teen, he commenced learning the painter's 
trade and continued the same until he was 
seventeen. From that date until he was 
twenty-two years old he worked on the 
farm. The next three years of his life he 
worked at painting in Morris, Minnesota. In 



S TE I -J:XS CO CA' T Y, MINNESO TA . 



423 



1S76 he took up a homestead, located on the 
nortliwest quarter of section 21, Eendsville 
townsliip, where he has since lived. In his 
vouiii;- manhood days he enjoyed life only 
as blythesome youth can, going into societ\' 
and frcijuontly going out camping, picking 
berrifs and lisiiing, etc. At tiie age of ten 
lie spent eight moiit lis at Fort Abercrombie, 
with his father, who was then a soldier. 
Tills was great sport for tlie youth, wlio will 
ever remember the event, .lunt' 14, 1885, 
Jlr. Smith was married to Emma Lovina 
liorrill, of llendsville township, who is the 
daughter of John and Anna (Holmes) Bor- 
rill, natives of Dakota county, ]\Iinnesota. 
8he was born, Xovend^er 4, lS(i5. By this 
marriage union two bright eyed, rosy-faced 
children have come to gladden the hearts and 
home of the j)arents — Roland, born April 11, 
1886, and Uichardson Palmer, born December 
8, 1887. 

Oar subject is a republican, though not of 
the radical i)arty stripe, and leans toward 
protection, lie has been supervisor of his 
towiisiiip for three years and clerk of his 
school district for some time, having always 
taken an active and prominent part in all 
matters of a public nature. 

— — «"S^l^"^— - 



^J\ UGUST ERICKSON,the village record- 
Jt~S5^ er, and one of tiie most capable \'oung 
l)usiiu'ss men in the village of Hancock, was 
btjrn in ( 'hrisliania, the capital of Norwa\', on 
the ITtli of February, 1863. He is a son of 
iM'ick and Christina (Thorstenson) Erickson, 
who were also natives of the same city. His 
parents are still living, his father having been 
enjiaged in the fancv "grocery business at 
Christiania for over twenty years. In the 
father's family there were two children — 
August, our subject, and Oscar. The latter 
came to Stevens county in 1883, but soon 
went to Minneapolis, where he is now em- 



ployed as a mechanic by the Minneapolis it 
St. Louis Bailway Company. 

August Erickson, whose name heads tliis 
article, grew to manhood and received his 
education in the city of his birth, in Norway, 
and after finishing his schooling, was em- 
ployed as a clerk there until ISSl. During 
that year he came to the United States, 
landing at Pliilad('l[)liia. He at once came 
West, and after making short stops at Chi- 
cago, Hlinois, Milwaukee and Waupon, Wis- 
consin, he finally arrived at the village of 
■Hancock, in Stevens county, Minnesota, in 
September, 1881. He soon afterward was 
employed as a book-keeeper in the general 
stcjre of Helgeson it Wilcox, and has since 
held that position. 

Mr. Erickson is a republican in political 
matters, and has always taken an active in- 
terest in all public matters. He was elected 
village recorder in March, 1887, and was re- 
elected in 1S8S, so that he still holds that 
position. He is a member of the ilasonic 
fraternity, and also of the village band and 
the Hre company, being treasurer of the 
latter orijanization. 



-'"•^HARLES W. COMSTOCK, who is a 
well-to-do farmer of Stevens county, 
resides on section 22, Hodges township 
Like every man who has a name among men, 
he has also a place in history. It is by re 
viewing one life, with its experiences, that 
another man may be taught and prolited. 
Our subject was born in Penobscot county, 
Maine, September, 6, 1851. His parents were 
Solomon and Berthia (Marshi Comstock, 
both of whom are now living with their son. 
Charles AV., the father having reached tiie 
advanced age of ninety yeai-s, wiiile the 
motiier is seventy-one years of age. They, 
too, were natives of tiie State of Maine, but 
many yeai-s after tiieir marriage moved to 



424 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



Prescott, AYisconsin, the date being about 
1871. Tliey remained there one year, and 
removed to Stevens county, Minnesota, tak- 
ing up the land where their son now lives 
and farms. They went back to Wisconsin 
and spent that winter, returning in the sum- 
mer. 

In 1876 our subject went to the Black 
Hills, being gone from March until Novem- 
ber. He lias the honor of being the first one 
to take a load of freight into Dead wood City, 
as well as to having carried the first woman 
who ever rode into Deadwood. It came 
about in this manner: The stage had been 
robbed and this lady left bv the wayside 
and was taken up by our subject ami taken 
into tlie town of Deadwood. He was en- 
gaged at freighting and mining while there, 
and relates many narrow escapes. It was 
then extremely wild and rough in that sec- 
tion. He came home from that trip and in 
1877, went to Winnepeg and the North- 
western country adjoining it. He traveled 
all summer, trading and dealing in horses, 
cattle, buffalo robes, etc. He also owned a 
butcher shop at "Winnei)eg, which he sold 
upon leaving. From there he returned to 
Stevens county, where he has since lived. 
He now owns 880 acres of land on sections 
21, 22 and 34 of Hodges township, and with- 
in two miles and a half of Hancock. His 
jilace is the finest in the vicinity, containing 
the best buildings and general improvements 
of any to be seen in Stevens county. A 
year or more ago, our sul>ject bought up 200 
horses in Chicago and Nebraska, and has 
l)epn more or less engaged in buying and 
selling. In 1878, he engaged in the farm 
machinery business, and up to two years ago 
had sold nearly all the machinery sold at 
Hancock. lie is a man of much prominence, 
being the president of the Pope and Stevens 
County Breeders' Association, and he and 
Messrs. Dresser it Dickenson organized the 
concern. Their stock are principally Eng- 



lish Shire, Percheron, French Coach and 
Cleveland Bay horses. 

Since the organization of the township, 
Mr. Comstock has been clerk of the same ; 
also deputy sheriff of Stevens county since 
1879. Among other local offices he has held 
with much credit, are those of school clerk 
and supervisor. In politics he is a tariff 
reformer of the republican stamp. He ran 
the first newspaper at Hancock, Minnesota, 
called the " Olive Branch^'' continuing the 
same for five years. It was he, too, who 
opened the first meat market at Hancock 
and operated a harness shop for a time. 

Another era in this man's life, which was 
of no small importance, was his mari'iage in 
January, 1882, to Miss Carrie Gunderson, a 
native of Norway, who came to America in 
1868, with her people, who are residents of 
Hoff township, Stevens county, Minnesota, 
at the present time. Slie is the oldest of a 
family of seven children. A sketch of her 
parents will be found in another department 
of this Album. 

Mr. Comstock has but one brother — "Wil- 
ber — now living in "Walden township. Pope 
county, Minnesota. 

Mr. and Mrs. Comstock are the parents of 
three sons — Earl, Carroll and Solomon. 
The oldest is five j'ears of age. Mrs. Com- 
stock belongs to the Lutheran Church. Mr. 
Comstock's mother's uncle was the first 
Methodist Episcopal minister to proclaim the 
truth in the State of ilaine. 



BR. SUTHERLAND, M. D., one of the 
prominent pi'acticing ])hysicians, of 
Morris, came to Stevens county, and located 
on what is known as the Sutherland farm in 
June, 1879. This property was oi'iginally 
opened by General George L. Becker, of St. 
Paul, and contained some 3,0u0 acres l\'ing in 
the towns of Morris and Darnen, and on it 



STEl'E^VS COUNTY, MI.VNESOTA. 



425 



the Doctor commenced farming on an exten- 
sive scale, cultivating 1,100 acres. lie re- 
maincil on tlie farm some five years, and 
tiien traded it for ]\[inneai)olis proi)crt\-. 
He tiien came to tiie village of Jlorris, and 
for two years was connected with the First 
National Hank as vice-president and presi- 
dent, after which lie sohl out his interest in 
the hanking business, and has been since 
then occujHed in tlie practice of his profes- 
sion. In 18S0 he erected an elevator at 
Morris, now the North Dakota Elevator, 
and operated it under the firm name of 
D. R. Sutlierland & Company for three or 
four years. In ISSl the same firm put up an 
elevator at Donnelly, which tliey ran until 
its destruction by fii-e, in 1SS3. He was for 
several years president of the school board 
of Morris, and takes a great interest in all 
educational matters. In ISSO he laid out 
Sutherland's addition to the village, and is 
one of the most public-spii'iteii, prominent 
and influential citizens in this part of the 
State. 

Dr. Sutherland was born at Poughkeejisie, 
Dutchess county, New York, November 9, 
1852, and is the son of Walter and Julia 
Suthei'land. lie drew his primary education 
from the schools of his native place, and in 
lSfi9 matriculated at Yale College. He 
remained in tiuit celebrated institution of 
learning for two 3'ears, but, on account of 
failing iiealth, was compelled to relinquish 
his studies there. For a year he studied 
medicine at home, and then entered Colum- 
l)ia College of Physicians and Sui-geons, from 
wiiich he .was graduated in 1874. He 
opened an office in Poughkeepsie, New 
York, and continued in practice tiiere some 
four oi' live years, with the exception of one 
year spent by him in the Soutli foi- Iiis 
Iiealth. In 1879 he came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, where lie has since resided. 

Dr. Sutherland was married, in December, 
1S78, to Miss Pauline Doty, of Poughkeep- 



sie, New York, and by this union is the par- 
ent of three children— Essie, Mae and 
! Douglas. 

The subject of our sketch is a member of 
Golden Sheaf Lodge, No. 132, A. F. & A. 
M.; Mt. Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M.; 
Bethel Commandcry, No. 19, K. T.; Minne- 
apolis Consistory, No. 2 ; and Zurah Temple 
of Minneapolis. He is the present Eminent 
Commander of the Commandery, and has 
held one of the offices of the same ever since 
it was established here, and is one of the offi- 
cers of the Grand Commandery of the State. 
He is also a member of the Odd-Fellow's 
fraternity, and of the Encampment. 

No man in the county is more widely, 
or more favorably known. His extensive 
property interests here, and his active busi- 
ness life, together with his energy, enterprise 
and business ability, have connected his 
name indissolubly with the history of the 
growth and development of this part of the 
State. 



-^^ 



►^> 



^MU STIN THOMPSON, one of the first 
j^^^ settlers of Stevens county, and a 
highl}^ respected citizen of the town of 
Framnas, is living on section 14, of that civil 
subdivision of the county. He came to this 
part of the State with Charles Olson, Thomas 
Hagen, his father, and others, in 1866, and 
has been a resident of the county ever since. 
He is a member of the Scandinavian race, 
that has done so much toward the develop- 
ment and uplniilding of this State, and is 
one of the influential ami leading men in the 
community. 

Mr. Thompson was born in Norway, No- 
vember 27, 1847, and is the .son of Thove 
and Augusta (Austinson) Austinson Ilagen. 
who were also natives of the kingdom of 
Norwav. He was reared in the land of his 
birth, and there received his education. In 



426 



STEVFA'S COUNTY. MIXXESOTA. 



1S60, in company with his parents, he came 
to the United States, landing at Quebec, 
Canachi, from whence tlie family came, at 
once, to Fillmoi-e county, Minnesota. His 
father and he worked a farm on shares for a 
time, and in 1866 our subject came to Stevens 
county with the pioneers of this region, and 
was one of the first to make a home in the 
county. For the first two years he Avas en- 
gaged in teaming, and hauling supplies for 
the settlers, after which he took up 160 acres 
of land as a homestead, and commenced 
farming on his own account. He was mar- 
ried, November 17, 1870, to Miss Anna Baker. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of 
nine children, eight of whom are living — 
Thomas, Benjamin, Martin A., Alfred, Aus- 
tin, Clara, Hilman and Mary A. Our sub- 
ject is a republican in his political belief, and 
religiously is a member of the Lutheran 
Church. Plis father, who is approaching the 
age when he should take his ease, is liv- 
ing with his son, having lost his wife by 
death. 

Mr. Thompson has a beautiful farm of 182 
acres of land of a most excellent character, 
and all the improvements upon it are the re- 
sult of his own efforts. It is one of the best 
in the town, and show's most conclusivelj' 
that the owner has a thorough knowledge of 
the art of husbandry, and carries out his 
ideas in a most exemplary manner. 



-«-: 



fDHN KOPETZKE, a prominent and ener- 
getic agriculturist of Stevens county, is 
a resident of section 32, Swan Lake township. 
He is a native of Prussia, born in Bromberg, 
Prussia, September 25, 1839, and is the son 
of Matthies and Rosa (Hamlin) Kopetzke, 
both of whom were also natives of that king- 
dom. Oursul)ject received his education in 
a Ciormanic common school, and worked 
on liis fathei-'s farm until his enlistment in 



the German army. In 1862 John entered 
Company Eight, Infantry Number Fourteen, 
Second Army Corps, and served for three 
years, when his time expired. He par- 
ticipated in the Holstein War, and at its 
close, he immigrated to the United States, 
and after a voyage of seven weeks and 
four days he landed in New York City, 
July 28, 1865. After going to Chicago, 
Illinois, where he remained two weeks, he 
moved to Gibson Station, Indiana, and 
bought a small farm, on which he lived for 
eighteen years. In April, 1882 he came^to 
Stevens count}', and bought a farm of 160 
acres in Swan Lake township, on section 32, 
and also took a homestead and tree claim of 
eighty and forty acres, respectively. 

Mr. Kopetzke was united in marriage in the 
City of Chicago, November 13, 1865, to Miss 
Augusta Ivreger, who came to the United 
States with our subject and her parents. 
They have been blessed with the following 
children— Willie, Rosa, John, ]\Iena, Enstine, 
Ellis, Josephine and Gusta, all living, and 
Andrew, who died. 

Rosa is living in Morris and is married to 
Mr. John Miconnie. 

Our subject and his family are exemplary 
members of the Catholic Church. He is a 
man who takes an active interest in all 
public matters, and is highly esteemed bj' all 
who know him. In political matters he 
affiliates with the democratic party. He has 
a fine farm of 240 acres under good cultiva- 
tion, and with good building improvements, 
and is engaged, extensively and successfulh', 
in general farming and stock-i'aising. 



-^^ 



\J-\\LE R. EYSTAD, a highly respected cit- 



Vi^^ izen of Scott township, Stevens county, 
is a resident of section 28. He was liorii in 
Norway, June 16, 1850 His parents are 
John and Betsey (Eystad) Eystad. Our sub 



ST/CrFA-S COUNTY, M/jVXF.SOTA. 



427 



jwt lived (in liis father's farm, and at- 
tended lligli Scliool at Clu'istiania for 
seven years. lie also spent a year at Ilorton 
College. In 1874, he came to the United 
States, and came directly to Morris, Stevens 
county, Minnesota. The following spring he 
bought out a claim and commenced substan- 
tial improvements on the same. His place 
consisted of 180 acres, upon which he has 
since lived. He proved upon the land taken 
as a homestead, in 1881. He has a good 
frame house and excellent granary. The 
laiul under cultivation amounts to seventy 
acres. Great has l)een the change in this 
section of tiie country, in which our worthy 
subject lives, since tirst he saw it. At that 
date there were but tliree houses in Scott 
townsliip. 

Jlr. Eystad was married in .January, 1877, 
to Mary Teugness, a daughter of Mathias 
and Jennie Teugness. This marriiige union 
lias been blessed by the advent of the follow- 
ing family of children — John, born June 8, 
1879; Hannah, born July 22, 1881; Martin, 
born October 1!), 1883; Albert, born Septem- 
ber 22, 1885; and Alfred Oscar, born Febru- 
ary 22, 1888. 

Mr. E\'stad is a. republican, and has been 
honored by the offices of townsliip trustee, 
U)v nine years; school clerk, three years. By 
religious belief and profession the family are 
Lutherans. With the exception of the loss 
of some stock, six horses, six head of cattle 
and damaged crops two seasons by grasshop- 
pers, our Hulijcct has been very successful, 
and his present comfortable circumstances 
are entirely due to his own energy, industry 
and economy. The opportunities for obtain- 
ing a competency in this free land are so 
much broader than in the land of his birth, 
and the Held for the development of enterprise 
and thrift holds out such substantial rewards, 
that he has never regretted leaving the 
fatherland, where the chances for a poor 
man are indeed limited. 



James H. DELAHUNT, of section 12, 



^ Morris township, Stevens county, was 
born, February 12, 1859, in Sheboygan 
county, Wisconsin. He is the son of Dennis 
and Mary Delahunt, natives of Ireland. 
They came to America in 1847, settling at 
(Quebec, Canada, where they remained two 
years, and then went to New Yoi-k State, 
but in 1858 moved to Wisconsin, where our 
subject, their son James, was born. At the 
age of eight years he left that State and 
went to TVtichigan, where he lived for two 
years, then went to Dakota, remaining live 
years on a fai-iii. From there he came back 
to Minnesota, settling in Stevens countv, 
where he now lives, he and his brother 
follnwiiig farming and lumbering. Our sub- 
ject owns 444- acres of land, a good herd 
of cattle, and twenty-two head of line horses. 

Mr. Delahunt was married on the 21st of 
October, 185G, to Miss i\larv Scanlen. a native 
of Ireland. She pjissed awa}' the 21st of 
February, 1876, leaving her husband and 
the following children to mourn her loss — 
William, James, Michael, John, Thomas, 
Mary and Margaret, all living at home ex- 
cept Michael, who is in Dakota. Politically, 
our subject is a staunch democrat. He 
and his family are mem bet's of the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

Mr. Delahunt is rated as one of the leading 
and most substantial farmers in the county. 
He is a man of high character, and is highly 
esteemed both as a neighbor and an ex- 
emplary citizen. 



SHARLES C.DABLOW, one of Stevens 
C(»unty"s most industrious and liighlv 
respecteil citizens is the owner of a good 
farm on section 21, Synnes township. He 
is a native of Germany, born in Prussia, 
April 25, 1838. He is the son of John and 
Mary (Ueitman)Dablow, of Germany. The 



428 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



family iinniigrated to this country in 1858, 
coming to Chicago, Illinois, where they re- 
mained for about four years, engaged at 
trardening-. From that city thev removed 
to Goodhue county. Minnesota, where the 
family still live. The mother died in 1864. 
The fathei- still remains on the farm, and is 
now eighty-two years old. They are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, and most ex- 
cellent people. The family consisted of 
four boys and one girl — Fred, John, Mary, 
George and Charles C, all now living. 

Our subject received his early education 
in Germany, in the good old German method. 
He aided on his father's farm until about 
twenty years of age. When the family' 
came across the ocean they were over six 
weeks on their journey, landing at Quebec. 
Charles C. cumo to Stevens county in 1879, 
in the month of March, and took a home- 
stead on section 22. which he lived on and 
proved up, then removed to section 21, where 
he still resides. He operates 200 acres, and 
carries on extensive farming as well as fine 
stock-raising. 

Mr. Dablow was married October 13,1866, 
to Miss Anna Bolnnbach, a native of Ger- 
many, who came to the United States with 
her parents, who are now living at Red 
Wing, ]\Iinnesota. Mrs. Dablow is the old- 
est of her father's family, and was married 
in Goodhue county. Mr. and Mrs. Dablow 
have been blessed with six children — Katie, 
Edward (deceased), Mary, John, Freddie 
and Edith. Katie is teaching school, and 
the remainder of the children are at home. 

In his political belief, our subject is a 
republican, lie has for some time, held the 
office of ti-easurer of school district Ko. 37. 
He has had quite an army experience, only 
a brief [)ortion of which can be given in this 
connection. lie enlisted at Chicago, Illi- 
nois, in the Foi-ty-second Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, in ISCl, and was mustered out of 
service, January 10, 1866. He went in as a 



private, coming out with no effort of his 
own, as sergeant. He was under Captain 
B. T. Clark, who was finally succeeded by 
Captain Richards. He served as only the 
brave hearted soldier can — through defeat 
as well as victory-. He participated in the 
battles of Corinth, Stone River, Chicka- 
mauga. Island No. 10, Atlanta campaign, 
Franklin and Xasiiville. H(^ was wounded 
fii'st at the battle of Chickamauga. in liis 
head, and was confined in the hos]iital for 
three months. In the Atlanta campaign, 
he was wounded in his foot, which took 
him from fielil duty for four months. He 
was finally mustered out at Port Lavocka, 
Texas, whereupon he returned to the city of 
Chicago. 



ILLIAM C. BICKNELL, the present 
efficient superintendent of the com- 
mon schools of Stevens county, is one of the 
leading attorneys resident at Morris. He 
was born in St. Lawrence county. New York, 
June 28, 185.5, and is the son of Carlos B. 
and Louisa A. (Carpenter) Bickneli, both of 
whom were natives of the "Empire State." 
In his earlier youth, he attended the district 
schools of the county of his birth, and in 
later years, the Normal School, at Potsdam. 
The latter institution he first entered when 
he was sixteen years of age. and attended 
its sessions off and on until 1S78, and then 
gave two years' close attendance there, grad- 
uating from thence in 1880. He then taught 
a graded school at Lewisville, St. Lawrence 
county. New York, for one 3'ear, and then 
started West. He spent a short time in St. 
Paul, on his arrival in this State, and then 
came to Morris. He took charge of the 
farm belonging to his uncle, R. H. Welling- 
ton, of St. Paul, and remained until fall and 
then returned to the latter city. The next 
season he had charge of the same place, 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



42q 



wli it'll contained several sections, and re- 
turned to tills county. During the fall of 
1882, he assumed charge of the grammar de- 
partment of the Morris schools, and served 
in that capacity for a term. The following 
spring he returned to his boyhood's home 
on a visit, and, m the autumn of that year, 
entered the law department of the Michigan 
State University, at Ann Arbor, and re- 
mained there two years, spending his vaca- 
tion in New ]\[exico, whei'e lie was interested 
in some silver mines. He was graduated 
from Ann Arbor, in June, 1885, with the 
degree of LL. B. 

Mr. IJic'knell came to Morris, in tiie sum- 
mer of 1885, and opened a law office, and in 
July, of the following veai', formed a ])artiier- 
sliip with J. A Johnson, and their present 
law, real estate, loan and collection business 
was established. In 1886, our subject was 
chosen to fill the office of superintendent of 
the schools of the county, on the republican 
ticket, and still holds tiiat position. He is 
a member of Golden Sheaf Lodge, No. 133, 
A. F. and A. M.. IMt. Lebanon Chapter, No. 
-17, 11. A. M.. Bethel (^ommandery. No. 19, 
K. T. 

Mr. Bicknell was united in marriage, June 
27, 1888, with Miss Nellie M. Finney, a na- 
tive of Red Wing, Goodhue county, ilinne- 
sota, and daughter of Rev. J. I-'inney. Her 
parents were early settlers in the eastern 
part of the State. 



/^, EORGE B. NEWTON, editor and pro- 
\^r prietorof the Hancock C'^zw JSrawcA, 
is one of the most able newsjiaper men in 
Stevens county, as well as one of the most 
prominent and highly respected citizens. 
Mr. Newton is a native of the town of Port 
Jervis, Orange county. New York, born Janu- 
ary 24, 1851, and is a son of Hugh and Sarah 
(Bolton) Newton. His i)arents were natives 



of New Jersey, wliere they were married. 
At an early day they removed to New York 
State, settling in Oi'ange county, where our 
subject was born. In 1854 they settled in Ti- 
oga county, and remained there until during 
the war, when they settled in Kentucky, op- 
posite Cincinnati. Ohio. In Marcli, 1805, 
they settled in Portage county, Wisconsin, 
where the mother died in June, 1807. Sub- 
sequently the father settled at Wausau, 
Marathon county, Wisconsin, where he died, 
in 1SS4. The father was a contractor and 
builder, and for many, years had followed 
that business and did a great deal of bridge 
contracting and building on railroads. Hugh 
Newton and wife were the parents of seven 
children — Charles B., Levina M., Sarah A., 
Edward M., William IL, James C. and Georjre 
B. Three of the boys were killed during the 
war while in the service — Edward, at the 
battle of the Wilderness; William II. was 
killetl in front of Petersburg; and James C. 
lost his life at the battle of Lookout Moun- 
tain. 

George B. Newton, spent his early boy- 
hood at Oswego, New York, and began his 
schooling there. He received an excellent 
education, finishing his course at Hillsdale, 
Michigan, in 1870. Previous to this he had 
begun learning the ju'inter's trade — the "art 
preservative of all ai-ts," — at Coldwater, 
^Michigan, and finished his trade and fii-st 
worked at it as a journeyman in "Wisconsin. 
Later, ^Ir. Newton accepted a position at 
Winneconne, Wisconsin, as book-keeper and 
•' log-sealer" for the lumber firm of Jones iV 
Company. This position he retained for 
three seasons. He then resumeti his trade, 
workingat Oshkosli, Wisconsin. Tiiere he did 
his first editorial work, acting in the capacity 
of reporter for nearly a year. At the expira- 
tion of that time lie went to Stevens Point, 
Wisconsin, where he worked at his trade and 
was also engaged in the lumljer business. In 
1880 he came to Swift county, Minnesota 



43C 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



and engaged in the printing business at Ap- 
pleton. One year later he purchased the 
office of the Appleton Recorder, and pub 
hshed that journal at that point until July, 
1SS2. He then removed the office to Han- 
cock, Stevens county. Minnesota, and sold it. 
However, he continued to edit and publish 
the paper for C. W. Conistock. the jn-oj)rie- 
tor, for three years and a half following. 
At the expiration of that time Mr. Comstock 
sold the office to S. C. Murphy, who ran it 
for a year. On the 1st of December, 1887, 
Mr. Newton bought the office, and has since 
conducted the ])aper. He has built up an 
extensive circulation, and the large local ad- 
vertising patronage speaks weD for the en- 
terprise of the vilLige and the efficiency of 
the paper as an advertising medium. Mr. 
Newton is a thorough newspaper man, a 
pungent and forcible writer, and his articles 
upon political questions are widely quoted. 
The politics of tiie ])aper are republican. 

Mr. Newton was married in 1883 to Mrs. 
Fannie A. Dan forth, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, born July lit, 1853, and a daughter of 
Joel and Lydia Ferree, a sketch of whom 
will be found elsewhere in this Album. In 
1870, she was mari'ied to T. L. Danforth, 
who died in August, 1881, leaving two chil- 
dren — Jesse E. and Charles W. 



-.^« 



(I^EORGE WASHINGTON BORRILL, 
\iL:A who was the first boy born in Doug- 
las township, Dakota county, Minnesota, is 
now a resident of section 2, Rendsville town- 
ship. His ]iarents are John and Ann 
(Holmes) Borrill. He was born February 
28, 1856, and was reared to farm labor on his 
father's farm, in the county of his birth, re- 
ceiving a common school education. At the 
age of twenty years he came with his parents 
to Stevens county, where the father had 
taken a homestead on section 28, Rendsville 



township, and there remained, making it his 
home, but working out occasionally, until 
1880, when he took a tree claim on the 
southwest quarter of section 2, and also a 
homestead on the southeast quarter of the 
same section. He there built him a house 
in which he and his family still live. 

Mr. Borrill was mai-ried September 9, 
1880, to Margret Farrand, of Oshkosh, Wis- 
consin, who had been engaged at teaching 
school in Otter Tail county. Minnesota, for 
two years prior to her marriage. She is a 
native of Oshkosh, and the daughter of Leue- 
lon Bartholomew ami Alfreda (Van Doren) 
Farrand. She was born September 18, 1868. 
She is now the mother of a bright little 
daughter, Leuelfreda, born July 30, 1887. 

Our subject has been township treasurer 
and held various school offices in his town- 
ship. 

Politically Mr. Borrill is a repulJican. He 
is a member of the Congregational Church, 
and stands high in the o]iinion of the best 
people in Stevens county. 



-^- 



OHN CIN, a prosperous and higldy es- 
teemed citizen of Stevens countj'^, is a 
resident of section 10, Pepperton township. 
He is a native of Sweden, born August 13, 
1851, and remained with his parents until he 
was eleven years old, when he started in life 
for himself. He first hired out to herd cat- 
tle, and after working at that for some years 
he went to Germany and worked in a flour 
mill for some years, when he returned to his 
native land. In the spring of 1873, he 
started for the United States, and after land- 
ing in Quebec, Canada, he went to St. Paul, 
Minnesota, where he secured work on a rail- 
road. He followed this occupation until 
1876, when he homesteaded eighty acres and 
took a tree claim in Pepperton township, 
Stevens county, Minnesota, where he has 



STEVJiNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



431 



since remained. He now has a valuable 
farm of some 240 acres, 140 acres lieinj;; under 
cultivation and lias <^ood building improve- 
ments, lie is engaged in genoi'al farming 
and stock raising, and durin"- the last vear 
has sold over $700 worth of stock. He is 
interested in the graded and blooded stock. 
During the first year in his township he lost 
one-half of his crop by '• hop])ers,'' and also 
the second year had the misfortune to have 
his hay all burned, and was forced to sell all 
his cattle, whicli ])ut him back considerably, 
but, notwithstanding his liartl times and mis- 
fortunes, he has pulled through, owing to his 
energy, industi'v and business tact. He now 
has eighty head of cattle, two full-blooded 
Short-horn heifers and an imported Aber- 
deen-Angus animal, called '• Boss Saders." 

Mr. Cin was united in marriage February 
4, ISSO, to Miss Annie Kurate, who is a na- 
tive of Norwav, and came to this country 
when she was nine years of age, with her 
parents, who settled in ]\[innesota. Mr. and 
Mrs. Cin have been blessed with the follow- 
ing children — August, Clara, Sarah and 
John — ail of whom are living and are at 
home, ill political matters our sul)ject is a 
staunch ileuiocrat. 

Dui'ing the last year Mr. Cin raised over 
6,000 bushels of oats. 



--^S^^"^- 



'P^EVl A. CARD, an eld settler in Moore 
J^jl townshii), has been absent from Stevens 
county, since November 1875, but his family 
are still living on section 12 of JFoore town- 
ship. Mr. Card came to tiie county, first in 
1870, taking up a claim on the above named 
section, doing a general farming business, and 
raising stock to a considerable extent. He 
was a native of Xew York State, and the son 
of Charles Card, who was a farmer. Our 
sui)ject came to Wisconsin when he was 
eighteen years of age, remaining there until 



he came to ilinnesota. He was married to 
a :N[iss Keziah Ihill, April 27, ISoG, in Buffalo 
county, Wisconsin. She is the daughter of 
Michael and Nancy (Baily) Bull, natives of 
Vermont. After their marriage her parents 
came West and located in Wisconsin, in 1852. 
From thei'e the family moved to Otter Tail 
county, Minnesota. While 'upon a visit to 
Xorthfield, Minnesota, he was taken ill and 
after a three weeks' sickness died there. He 
was seventy-five years old when he died. He 
was a practical, thoroughgoing farmer, and 
an acce[)table membi'i- of tiie ^letliodist 
Episcopal Churcrli. His wife died .laniiary 
23, 1SS5, aged eighty-three years ; slie also 
lived and died in the j\Iethodist faith, as did 
her husband. They were the parents of six 
children — four sons and two daughters. One, 
named John, died in its infancy, and the 
names of the other children are — Lucretia, 
George AV., Keziah, Barney L., and Orrin. 

Ive/.iah, the subject of this sketch, is the 
wife of Levi A. Card, mentioned above, and 
was born in the town of Lewis, New York, 
April 28, 1836, going to school until she was 
si.xtcen vears of age, when she came to Wal- 
worth county, Wisconsin, with her parents, 
and completed her education at the age of 
eighteen years. She is the mother of five 
living children, and two who have died — 
Hottie L., William W., Nettie L.. Howard and 
Lyin;in. Tlie names of those deceased are 
Ellsworth and Nancy Ann. The eldest 
daugiiter went to l)ak(jta in 1^83 and took a 
sixty-acre claim, upon which she remained a 
part of her time, and went out sewing some. 
Ellswortii, who was subject to fainting spells, 
wiis instantly killed b\- the cars, when about 
forty rods from the house, during 1874; he 
was nearly eight years of age at the time of 
his sudden death. Mi's. Card is a devoted 
member of the Congregational Church, and 
highly respected by all with whom she asso- 
ciates, as are all of her children. Her son 
William Weslev belongs to the Sons of Tem- 



432 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



perance, having been a worthy member ever 
since the fall of 1887. He is a rising young 
man of his township and county, and one 
who is bound to make his mark in the world, 
as the saying goes. Hattie L. was married 
July 25, ISSS, to B. D. Wodburn, who is an 
extensive farmer and horse-raiser at Fred- 
erick, IJruwn county. Dakota. 



||45^ELAND WELLINGTON, the present in- 
1'^^ cunibent of tlie office of register of 
deeds for the county of Stevens, is a native 
of Winnebago county, Wisconsin, born March 
28, 18.59, and is the son of Eichard and 
Frances J. (Carpenter) Wellington. His 
fatiier was largely engaged in the lumbering 
business in Wisconsin, and owned, at one 
time, some 15,000 acres of land in this 
county, and 50,000 acres in Wilkin county. 
The most of tlie land in Stevens county he 
lias disposed of, having only some 2,500 
acres now in his possession. The subject of 
this sketch was reared in the place of his 
birth, and there accpiired his primarv educa- 
tion. In 1875 he entered Ripon College, and 
remained there two years. 

On tlie 31st of March, 1877, Mr. Welling- 
ton came to Stevens county, for the ])urpose 
of taking charge of a farm of 3,500 acres of 
land jjelonging to his father, in the town of 
Scott. He entered upon tiie arduous labor 
of operating tliis niagniticent estate, and had 
under cuhivation about 2.000 acres. He re- 
mained on tiiis farm until ISSO, attending 
Ki[ion College in tlie winter months, at which 
time he purchased all of section 1, Scott 
townsiiip, and commenced to farm on his 
own account. This piece of land he culti- 
vated until 1887, and succeeded in oetting 
under cultivation some 250 acres, the balance 
of it being devoted to pasture. In the 
spring of 1881, when he had barely attained 
his majority, he was elected chairman of the 



town board of supervisors, and retained that 
position until elected to the office of register 
of deeds in the fall of 1881-. He was re- 
elected to the latter office in the fall of 1886, 
and at present occupies that important posi- 
tion. In the spring of 1888 he opened a 
loan, real estate and insurance office, which 
he is carrying on in connection with his other 
business. In the summer of 1887 he pur- 
chased a tract of timber land, and had the 
wood cut off, and started a wood yard also 
in the village of Morris. He is a member 
of Golden Slieaf Lodge, No. 133, A., F. and A. 
M. ; Mt. Lebanon Chapter, No. -17. R. A. 
M. ; Bethel Commandery, Xo. 19, and Osman 
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of St. 
Paul, and has held office in all the branches 
of the order, and is the ]iresent secretary of 
the Cha})ter. 



'EREMIAH M. DICKENSON, whose bio- 
graphical sketch is here subjoined, now 
lives on section 23 of Hodges township, Ste- 
vens county. 

He is of English parentage, born June 24, 
1836, in the ])rovince of New Brunswick. 
His father was James Dickenson and his 
mother was Lovina (Masten) Dickenson. 
They both came from England, but were 
united in marriage in New Brunswick. The 
father died there in 1878. He was a 
thorouo-htjoinir farmer throufrhout his life. 
Their children were — Elijah, Ilulda, Jere- 
miah M., Lovina, James W., Melza, Mary and 
Milton. Tiiree sisters and one brother of 
our subject are now dead. 

Jeremiah Dickenson, whose name heads 
this article, removed from the home of his 
childhood to Winnebago county, Wisconsin, 
in 1858, living there seven or eight years, 
then coming to Wabasha county, Minnesota, 
where he farmed for eighteen years. He 
then lived in Minneapolis one year, and then 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



433 



moved to Hodges township, Stevens county, 
taking- char<^e of the " Minnesota Agricultural 
and Stock Farm Company's '' property. He 
came in 1883, and has since tlien managed 
this farm, beside another large farm, near 
Moi-ris, and also one near Cami)boll, Dakota. 
One of these farms contains nine large barns, 
each 30x150 feet. There are about 500 
head of cattle on the farm, principally 
Short-horn grades, also aljout 200 iiead 
of horses from graded stock. Tiiis farm 
is a vast concern an<l requires a good man 
as its successful manager. It is one the 
largest of the kind in America. The resi- 
dence cost §17,000, alone. Tlie brooding 
house is 40x80 feet. Then there are the 
creamery, ice-honse. machine shed, feed mill, 
blacksmith siiop and a granary, 30x100 feet, 
as well as many other l)uildings, which to- 
gether with tiie large amount of stock, must 
be seen to be fully appreciated. 

Mr. Dickenson is interested in land in Pope 
county also, which he operates himself, it 
being all well imjiroved. He was one of the 
three gentlemen who formed the "Pope and 
Stevens Counties Breeders' Association," and 
has been its president ever since its organi- 
zation. This stock is kept on our subject's 
farm, in Pope county, whei'e he has one barn 
40x54: feet; one 30 feet square and one 
40x100 feet. The company have thirteen 
head of English Shire, Percheron, French 
Coach and Cleveland Bay horses. On one 
of the farms whicii he has the management of 
there ai'e tliirty-six miles of fence, and 
l:i,nou acres in one body. 

Mr. Dickenson was educated in New 
Brunswick, leaving school at the age of 
twelveyears, and then licgaii 1 lis career as a 
farmer, f(jllowing the same ever since, with 
slight exceptions. In politics he is a rejjub- 
lican. 

Our sul)ject was married May 4, 1858, to 
Miss.Iulia A. I lannnond, daughter of Stephen 
Hammond. Her parents are both deceased. 



She was the fourth child, iuid l)orn at Green- 
ville, Saratoga county, New York, and was 
educated in New York and Wisconsin. Our 
subject and his wife have been the parents 
of five children — Daniel A., James A., Mar}^ 
A., Nelson O. and one that died in infancy. 
All of the children are now deceased except 
James A., who is superintendent of A. K. 
Barnum's large farm, near St. Paul. James 
A. was married to a Miss Carlson. 



-.IJ-. 



JmvENRY W. DALEY, postmaster at the 
JL"^ J., village of Hancock, is one of the most 
prominent democrats in Stevens county, and 
one of the most capable and intelligent busi- 
ness men in the village in which he lives. 
Mr. Dalev is a native of Minnesota, havino- 
been born in Le Seuer county on the 22d of 
November, 1856. His parents, John and 
Alice (Cantwell) Daley, were natives of Ire- 
land. They came to the United States in 
about 1852, landing at New York, and at 
once settled at Philadelphia, where they 
lived for about one year. At the expiration 
of that time they came to St. Paul, Minne- 
sota ; for some time the father worked at his 
trade of moulding. In 1854 the family 
settled in Le Seuer county upon a farm, Imt 
for some time the father carried on his trade. 
At this writing the parents are still living 
upon their original homestead, but of late 
3-ears the father has lived a partially retired 
life. Mr. and Mrs. Jolin Daley wei'e tiie 
parents of nine children — Mary, Henry, Mag- 
gie, William, Nellie, Kate, Jennie, John, 
and one child that died in infancy. Nellie 
died when nineteen years of age, and the 
rest ai'c still living. 

IIenr\' AV. Daley, the subject of this 
memoir, spent his boj'hood days and re- 
ceived his education in Le Seuer county, Min- 
nesota, attending school until he had passed 
his sixteenth birthday. From that time he 



434 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



made his own way in tlie world, and until 
he was twenty-one worked at various occupa- 
tions, principally at lumbering, however. He 
then, in 1877, came to Stevens county, and 
took a homestead of 160 acres in Moore town- 
ship. He at once began improvements and 
enwiged in farming' and stock-raising. In 
1880 Mr. Daley was married. He lived on 
the farm until 1884, when he removed to the 
\illage of Hancock, where he still resides. 
He received the appointment of postmaster 
in 1886, and has since held the office. He 
is a careful and efficient officer, and his ad- 
ministration of mail matters has been satis- 
factory to all concerned. 

Mr. Daley has extensive property interests 
here, owning a farm of 200 acres near the 
village, and every enterprise of a jjublic 
nature calculated to benefit either his town 
or county has always received his support and 
encouragement. He is a member of the 
Catholic Church. 

As has been stated, ilr. Daley was mar- 
ried on the 4tli of May, 1880, to Miss Anna 
O'lvielly, a native of Michigan, and a daugh- 
ter of James and Bridget O'Rielly. By their 
marriage they have been the parents of four 
cliildren — John, Nellie, Frank and Clarence. 



Colonel whedon w. griswold, 

attorney at law, real estate, loan and 
insurance agent, a resident of the village of 
Morris, was born at Norfolk, Litchtiekl 
county, Connecticut, December 28, 1829, 
and is the son of Wyllys and Abigail (Clem- 
ens) Griswold, both of whom were natives 
of the same State. In 1838 he was taken 
by his parents to Stark county, Ohio, where 
the family resided until 1849, and then re- 
moved to Auburn, DeKalb county, Indiana, 
in which latter place the father died. 

Colonel Griswold studied law with Judge 
John Morris, of Auburn, Indiana, now a 



resident of Fort Wayne in that State, and, 
after being with him some two years and 
a half, was admitted to the bar in the spring 
of 1852. The same fall he was elected pros- 
ecuting attorney of the district, and served 
two years. 

On the 4th of September, 1861, he enlisted 
in Company H, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, 
as first lieutenant, and participated in the 
sanguinary conflicts of Shiloh, Stone River, 
Chickamauga, and at Murfreesboro was 
promoted to the rank of captain, in Februar}', 
1863. Starting on the Atlanta campaign, he 
was with his regiment in several of the hard 
fought engagements of that daring move- 
ment, and was present at the battles of Col- 
umbia and Franklin, and after those conflicts 
was made major of the regiment. After 
participating in the bloodj' contest at Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, in December, 1864, he re- 
mained with the Fourth Corps, until it 
reached Strawberry Plains, where the\' Avere 
ordered to cooperate with Grant's force 
against Lee, when he was mustered out of 
the service, ]V[arch 19, 1865, to take the 
command of the One-Hundred-and-Fifty- 
second Indiana Infantry, as colonel. He 
joined the latter command, April 1st, 1865, 
at Harper's Ferry, and remained with them 
until finally mustered out, in September, 1865. 
In 1866 he was elected auditor of De Kalb 
county, Indiana, and served four years in 
that capacity. In 1870 he went into the 
milling business, and remained in that line 
until coming to Stevens county, in April, 
1872. He took up a homestead of 160 acres 
of land in the town of Morris, and com 
menced the cultivation of the soil. He was 
elected to the office of county auditor in the 
fall of 1873, and, being re-elected three sub- 
ssciuent terms, served eight years. Me had 
relinquished his labors on his farm on his 
elevation to office, and carried on, in c(jnnec- 
tion with his official work, the insurance and 
collection business. On the expiration of 



STEJ-f-WS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



435 



his term of oflBce, he gave his attention to 
those latte.r lines of business, until 1SS+, when 
he went to St. Paul, and was engaged in the 
real est<ate business for about eighteen 
months. From tiiere ho went to Amity 
City, Louisiana, where he remained until 
September, ISST, when lie I'oturned to Morris 
and established iiis ])resent business. He 
has been prominently identified with all 
good work in the county and vilhige, and was 
a nuMulxM' oT tiie school board of th(_' latter 
for several years, having always taken an 
active part in all public and educational 
matters. 

Colonel Gi-iswold was married at Fort 
Wayne. Indiana. January 24. 18G4, to Miss 
Josie S. Ilowe, a native of New York, and 
the daughter of James and Sarah J. (Ilalli- 
day) Howe. The subject of this memoir is 
a ])rominent member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, and is the secretarv of Golden Sheaf 
Lodge, Ko. 133, of Morris. He and his wife 
are consistent meml)ers of the Congrega- 
tional Churcii, and are ever foremost in all 
good work. 

WILLIAM T. HORTON, one of the 
substantial men of Horton town- 
ship, in Stevens county, is now a resident of 
.section 14. He is a native of New York, 
born in Ulster county of that State, in 1825. 
He is a son of James and Elizabeth (Merritt) 
Horton, of New "\'oi-k and New Jei-soy re- 
spectively. They were married in York 
St.ate, and tliei'e remained through lil'e. The 
father died wiien AViliiam was only eight 
yeai-s old. Tlie mother lived until 1870. 
They were fai'mei's, and belonged to the 
Quaker Church. Tiiey reared the following 
children — William, Daniel, Merritt and James. 
Only our subject and his i)rother James are 
now living. 

Up to the age of fifteen years Mr. Horton 



attended school in New York. From tlie 
schoolroom he went to work by tiie montli 
on a farm, following the same for about 
thirteen years ; but in the period named he 
was also in the garden seeil business. He 
came to Fillmore county, Minnesota, and 
commenced farmin": for himself, continuiii<r 
that six years ; then removed to Frankfort, 
Mower county, Minnesota, where he spent 
ten years at farm Hfe. In the fall of 1803 
he enlisted in the Second Minnesota Heavy 
Artillery, being a member of the Eleventh 
liegiment. He enlisted as a private, and 
came home a coi'poral. He enlisted at 
Frankfort, was sworn in at Rochester, and 
was discharged at Fort Siielling in the fall 
of ISfi-l-. The regiment was stationed at 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing post duty, 
having charge of forts, etc. He had tiie mail 
contract between Frankfort, Chatfield and 
S])ring Valley, from 1862 to 1S»')5. but, upon 
enlistment, relinquished the same, but took 
it up after his return from the war. 

Our subject commenced his married life, 
January 1, 1856. by uniting himself to Miss 
Mary A. Allen, who was a native of New 
York, and was reared in Ohio from the age 
of two years up to twenty, her peojile mov- 
ing to Ohio at quite an early day. The 
mother is still living, but the father died 
when our subject's wife was a small girl. 
Their family consisted of the following chil- 
dren — Jane Elizelicth (now ]\Irs. Walter 
Withew. of Jackson county, ]\Iinnesota. who 
is the mother of six living children). Walter 
F., Frank D., Edward M., Charlotte C, 
George W, and Katie Agues. Walter F. 
married Miss Nellie Hanson, of La Crosse, 
Wisconsin, but a native of Norway. He is 
now land examiner and manager of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad Conqiany. Frank 
D. married Miss Eertha Tripp, of Aitkin 
county, Minnesota. Edward M. mari'ied 
Miss Alice Huntsinger, of Park Rapids, 
Hubbard countv, Minnesota. He is a mer- 



436 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



cliiuit there. The other children are un- 
married. 

Mr. Horton came to the place wliere lie 
now lives in 1878, locating his present land, 
on section 14, llorton township. Tlie town- 
ship takes its name from our subject, he 
being the first settler within its bounds. He 
nows owns 300 acres of land on sections 14, 
22 and 23 of the same township. He is 
carrying on a general farming business, and 
grows considerable stock, sometimes keep- 
ing as high as fifty head of cattle and horses. 

He votes the republican ticket, and fre- 
quently holds local offices, such as justice of 
the peace, cliairman of the board of super- 
visors, clerk, etc. 



«»^ 



OHN E. DANIELSON, one of the promi. 
nent and enterprising merchants of the 
village of Morris, was born in Sweden, 
March 7, 1850, and made his home in the 
land of his bii'th until 18fi7, when he deter- 
mined to seek his fortune in the New World. 
Leaving home, he crossed the stormy Atlantic 
and landed in New York City about the 1st 
of August, of that year. He started West, 
and was emploj^ed in a machine shop in 
Henry county, Illiiu)is, for some four months. 
During the following winter he attended 
school at Kewaunee, in the same county, and 
in the spring went to Bushnell, McDonough 
county, Illinois, and worked on a farm until 
May, and then came to Minnesota. He had 
no idea where to locate, but liearing of Eed 
Wing, went to tliat place and went to work 
on a farm in that neighborhood until after 
harvest, and then assumed a place in a store 
in the city. There he remained until the 
next harvest time, and then hired out to 
Avork in the field, as the wages were high. 
After attending school that winter in Eed 
Wing, he, in compan^^ with some friends, 
took a contract to grrade track on the Wi- 



nona & St. Peter Railroad, and after work- 
ing three or four months and fulfilling his 
contract, he returned to Reil AVuig. He 
soon after entered a store in that city, and 
remained there until 1S72, at which time he 
went to Minneapolis and was in the employ 
of Segelbaura Brothers until 1879. and then 
came to Morris and opened his present gen- 
eral merchandise business. 

Mr. Danielson has been an active and in- 
fluential citizen of the village since his loca- 
tion here, and has served in the city council 
for two years. He has been a prominent 
member of the Scandinavian Lutheran 
Church since its organization, in 1883, and is 
the treasurer and one of the trustees of that 
society. He is a member of the A. O. [T. 
W. and of Scott Legion, No. 113, Select 
Knights, and of Scandia Lodge, No. 6, K. of 
P., of Minneapolis. He is the present treas- 
urer of the I. 0. O. F. Lodge, and past 
Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias order. 

The subject of this sketch was married, 
November 4, 1876, to Miss Ida C. Peterson, 
and they are the parents of five children — 
Edward F., was born August 2, 1877; Wil- 
liam L., born February 7, 1880; George A., 
born October 20, 1883; Lawrence li , born 
April 18, 1885; and Florence I., born Jan- 
uary 9, 1887. 

-'"-^APTAIN SALMON B. OLSON, an ex- 
tensive and thorough going agricultur- 
ist of the town of Framnas, who has his resi- 
dence on section 23 of that precinct, is a 
native of Norway and was born August 27, 
1835. His parents, Ole and Elizabeth Larson, 
gave him the advantages of an education in his 
youtli, and at the age of fourteen lie adopted 
the calling of a seaman as his vocation in life. 
He followed that business in the home waters 
until 1852, when in search of a more desira- 
ble berth, he came to New York and from 



STEVFATS COUNTY, M/N-VESOTA. 



437 



tliat city to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For 
two years lie was on lake vessels before the 
mast as an able seaman, and at the expira- 
tion of that time purchased a share in a ves- 
sel and sailed it as its captain. He contin- 
ued at that employment until'lSTT, and then 
abandoned it for the life of a farmer. Early 
in 1S7S he came to Stevens count\', Minne- 
sota, and bought the jilace where he now 
lives, in Framnas township, and has made 
his home here ever since. He has a most 
excellent farm of 217 acres, and theim])rove 
ments are of the most creditable character, 
^fuch of his attention is g-iven to general 
stock-raisino; and rai'inin"', and he has niet 
with a merited success in his later calling. , 
^Ir. Olson was united in marriage with Miss i 
Nettie ^fols/.ang in 18.57. who died Novem- 
ber 3, lS(i9, leaving five children — Ole. 
Henry, Frank, Salmon and John, all of 
whom are living. On the 6th of April, 1871, 
]V[r. Olson was again married, this time to 
Miss Nicoline Nilson, who is the mother of 
five children — Nils, Hans, Otto, Nettie and 
Edward. 

In his ])olitics, the subject of this sketch is 
a re])ublican, and in the discharge of liis 
elective franchise supjiorts the candidates of 
that party. He is a mend)ei- of the Luthe- 
ran Church, and is ever ready in all religious 
duty. He is one of the ]irominent and influ- 
ential members of the c<^mmnnity in which 
he resides, ami holds the respect and esteem 
of all with whom he comes in contact. 



JTOHN HOUSE, the senior member of the 
f^ firm of House & Tounquist, dealers in 
agricultural im|)i('mentsand machinery, came 
to ^foi-ris in April, 1870, and openetl the first 
saddler and harness-making shop in that 
village, and carried on that business for two 
years. The next five years he wasemi)lovod 
in selling farm machinery, and then removed 



to his fai'in, in Kendsville township, Stevens 
county, which he had bought on coming to 
the county, and had been gradually im- 
proving, so that when he commenced faiin 
life he had 220 acres of it under cultivation. 
After remaining on this place one year he 
returned to Moi-ris and established his present 
business, and has continued at it ever since. 
He rented his farm for two years, but now 
carries it on in connection with his other 
business, making a specialty of stock-raising. 
He has some twenty-two head of horses on 
the place and fifty head of cattle. 

Ml'. House is a native of England, born 
February 15, 1840, and was brought by his 
parents to the United States when he was 
but nine years old, and seltlcMl on tlu; Indian 
lands in Marquette county, Wisconsin. 
Two years later he started out in the woi-ld 
for himself and has since that time depended 
entirely upon his own resources, woi-kingout 
at first bj' the month, for his board and 
clothes, and at whatever he could find to do. 
He attended school in the winter months 
when he could and thus acquired his educa- 
tion, and in 1858 went to Pardeeville, 
Wisconsin, and served three years at the 
harness-making trade. 

In May, 1861, Mr. House enlisted in 
Companj' G (Portage City Light Guards), 
Second Wisconsin Infantry, and wasmu.stered 
in the United States service June 14. The 
regiment proceeded to Washington and were 
in the skirmish at Centi-eville, July 18, and 
the battle of Bidl Run the 21st of the same 
month. Mr. House was wounded in the last 
nameil conflict, in the breast, gi-oiu and foot, 
and was taken pi'isonei' in the retreat. lie 
was taken to a log cabin near by, 'vliere 
there were some sixty more jirison- 
ers. The only care these wounded men 
received was from each other. Two 
of their number, who were less wounded than 
the others, went to the scene of the late bat- 
tle and found a sack of corn meal and with 



438 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



this made gruel and fed the others, twice a 
day, and carried water with which the pris- 
oners washed eacii other's wounds. It is no 
wonder tliat, after twelve days of these 
sufferings, the survivors only numbered 
twenty-two. At the expiration of that time 
they were taken to Mannassas Junction in 
wagons and from there, in freight cars, to 
Richmond. In the latter place they were 
confined in an old tobacco factory, without 
Ijedtiing or any comforts, and here Mr. 
House had the ball in his groin extracted, 
and still keeps it as a memento of those days. 
When he was taken prisoner he had on only 
his]):inis, shirt and blouse, and on sending his 
shirt (JUt to have it washed, another dirty 
one was returned to him, and on his refusing 
it, was compelled to do without that gar- 
ment. Six weeks after his lirst confinement 
there, he w;is tiiken witii the typhoid fever 
and lay low with that disease some seven 
weeks. On his recovery, one day he went 
into the yard where negro cooks were at 
work, and, as his clothing was gray in color, 
he walked past the guard, unquestioned, and 
was four miles in the country before he was 
re-captured by a scjuad of cavalry. He was 
taken back and })laced in Libby Prison, in 
irons, and remained there until October, 
when he was sent to Charleston, South Car- 
olina, with some 500 others to be hung, the 
Federal Government having hung the priva- 
teers taken by them. In that city they were 
placed seventeen in a cell, 1-1x12 feet in size, 
and i-emained thereuntil the city was nearly 
desti'oyed by fire. During the conflagration 
many of the ]>risoners lost their minds 
through fear and suffering, as the cell l^ecame 
so hot that it was almost unbearable. For 
forty-eight hours they were left without 
food or water, and were then taken to Col- 
umbia, South Carolina, and thei'e confined 
in cells of like character, until the balance 
of the privateers in the North were released, 
and then were placed on the same footing as 



the other prisoners of war. When some of 
the ]irisoners were allowed to walk around 
for exercise in the yard, the others wei'e not 
permitted to look out of the window and 
several who disobeyed the rule were ruthless- 
1}^ shot, and our subject was fired at by one 
of the guards, but was nothit by the ball. 

Tlie ])risoners, in their anxiety for freedom, 
tried their best to escape, and some of them 
cut a hole through the flooring of their room 
into an empty room below, and then dug 
through a stone wall to the outside air. Fif- 
teen of their number passed ahrough the 
hole, and escapeil from the prison, among 
tliem the subject of this memoir, and, divid- 
ing up into little knots of five, they essayed 
to regain the Union lines. Mr. House, after 
being out ten days, and when within but 
eight miles of the Federal forces, was re- 
captured and taken to Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia, and there the prisoners were kept 
chained together for thirty-six hours, and 
then returned to their ]irison at Columbia. 
He found that all those who had not made 
this break for libert\', were gone, and was 
told that they had been exchanged. The re- 
captured ones were chained together, and to 
rings in the walls and floor, but after three 
days they were transferred to Richmond, 
Virginia, where the\' were placed in Castle , 
Thunder, and there found the comrades of 
their Columbia prison, who were said to have 
been exchanged. After remaining in that 
]irison some three weeks, Mr. House was 
taken to Libby, and there suffered worse 
treatment than before. In May, 1862, he 
was taken to Newport News, and there ex- 
clianjied, and on his arrival at Washington 
was discharged. When he entered the ser- 
vice he weighed I-IG pounds, and when mus- 
tere<l out but ninety-six ; he could walk, but 
that was about all. 

After recruiting his health, ]\[r. House 
came to Minnesota with a lot of stock, and 
stopping at Eyota, sent the cattle on with a 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



439 



iiiiui that was with liim, to New Uliii. lu 
tlie fall lie lieard from this party that the 
Indians liad captured the whole herd, and he 
went to Owatonna and met the man, and 
then returned to Rochester, and there on- 
listed in the First Minnesota Mounted Rang- 
ers, to tig:ht the Indians, but on going to 
Fort Snelling, was rejected. lie returned to 
Wisconsin and resumed his harness-making 
trade, and was there married, in July, 1804, 
and siiditly afterward came to this State and 
commenced his trade at St. (^harles. While 
there he was drafted in Wisconsin, but was 
exempt by his former service. For two 
years he was emjiloyed at his trade in Iloch- 
ester after this, and then moved to Pine Is- 
land and opened a shop of his own. There 
he remained until ls76, when he came to 
Moi'i'is, and has been here ever since. 

;Mr. House is an active member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and was one of the origina- 
tors and charter members of the first lodge 
started in the countv. He is also a compan ion 
in tiie Cliapter, of which he was the first 
High Triest, and has held that position ever 
since, and is one of the originators of the 
Conimandery. He was the first Commander 
of Oveiton Post, G. A. II., of which he is 
still a member. 



.^^ 



-^►> 



#DHN C. BUCKLIN, retail dealer in wines, 
liquors antl cigars at the village of Han- 
cock, is a pioneei' of Minnesota, having been 
a resident of the State for nearly thii-ty 
years. Jlr. Uucklin was boi'ii in Sweden, in 
April, 1844, and is a son of Joim and Lena 
(I<enson) Bucklin. About 1854 the family 
came to the United States, landing in New 
York and proceetling at once to Chicago, 
where they lived for one yeai'. They then 
removed to Stoughton, Wisconsin, and after 
a residence there of abijut three years they 
settled in Milwaukee, where they remained 



for al)out one year. At the expiration of 
that time, in 1859, they came to Minnesota, 
where they have remained ever since. The 
parents are now livingin Ilice county. They 
had a family of three children, as follows — 
John, Joseph and Hannah, all of whom are 
living in IVIinnesota. 

John C. Bucklin, whose name heads this 
article, finished his educjition at lied Wing, 
Minnesota, attending school until he was 
about twenty years of age. After leaving 
school for some time he was engaged in driv- 
ing a stage up and down the ]\Iississippi 
River. In 1870 he engaged in the lumber- 
ing business on his own account in Pine 
county, Minnesota, and followed this for 
nine years. At the expiration of that time, 
in 1879, he came to Stevens county, and 
opened his present business, in the village of 
Hancock. He has since remained here, de- 
voting his attention to the liquor trade, and 
for the past three years has operated a thresh- 
ing machine. 

Mr. Bucklin's present w'ife was formerly 
Miss Sophronia Bailey. She is a native of 
Minnesota, and a daughter of W. II. Bailey. 
The family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Bucklin 
and six ghildren, as follows — William, Ab- 
bie, Jose]3hine, George, Mertie and Coi'a. 

In political matters our subject is a demo- 
crat. 

During the Indian outbreak of 1862, Mr. 
Bucklin took an active ]iart in the mejisures 
taken to piotect the frontier settlements, 
and participated in the movements and ex- 
peditions in the vicinity of Si. Cloud. 

• ->- ?^^^*— - 



BOLPHUS G. LINSLEY. who liveson sec- 
tion 19 of Dai'ntn township, isa native 
of McIIenry county, Illinois, and was born 
Februarv 11, 1839. At the age of about two 
vears he was bereft of his father, and shortly 
following that sad event he was adopted by 



440 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



David Linsley, with whom he lived until 
nineteen years of age, when he set out in life 
for himself by coming to Goodhue county, 
Minnesota, in the spring of 1858. He pur- 
chased 2i0 acres of choice school land, which 
he farmed until 1876, at which date he thought 
to better his circumstauces by selling and 
moving to Stevens county. His present 
beautiful farm embraces all of section 19 ; 
500 acres of it are under cultivation, with 
good and well arranged buildings. 

Since coming totlie county he has devoted 
his entire time to his farm interests, and has 
raised an average of 2,000 bushels per year 
of the finest grain ever grown. 

In January, 1S60, Mr. Linsley was united by 
marriage to Miss Emily J. Kieth, wliich union 
has been blessed by nine children, eight of 
whom are now living — Clara IL, David J., 
Neland A., Seldon K., Emily A., Emery B., 
Elsworth R.; also twins, Edward G. and Ed- 
win G. The latter dietl in infancy. 

Mr. Linsley is an honored member of the 
Masonic fraternity, having joined the Red 
"Wing Lodge, K"o. S, in 1872, and also a 
charter member of Golden Sheaf Lodge, No. 
133, of Morris. 



[OSEPH WALKER, who now lives on sec- 
tion lo, Mori'is township, Stevens coun- 
ty, was born in St. Lawrence county. New 
York. Eeltrnary 12, 1837, and is a son of Loa 
and Mercy (Clark) AValker, the father being 
a native of Vermont and the mother of New 
Hampshire. The former's family were of 
English origin and the latter of Irish descent. 
Joseph left the East in 1871 for Minnesota, 
and took up eighty acres as a tree claim and 
eighty as a homestead. Up to the age of 
twentv-one years he went to school, worked 
at earpentei'ingand farming,except two years, 
during which he worked in a mill. He was 
married, January 1, 1857, to Laura Roberts. 



The fruits of this union were nine children — 
Charles C, William L., Francis H. (deceased), 
Nellie J. (deceased), Elizebeth (deceased), 
Anna L., Orville R., Mercy L. and Robert L. 
Politically, Mr. Walker is a republican. 
He has held various local offices, including 
that of supervisor, justice of the peace, etc. 
He received a common school education and 
has made for himself a good home, now hav- 
ing a quarter section of land, well cultivated. 



•«"J^^' 



^^.j^., , ILLIAM CURTIS, an excellent rep- 
resentative of the self-made men 
of Minnesota, who is engaged in agricultural 
pursuits in Baker township, came to Stevens 
county in 1878, and took up a homestead of 
160 acres of land, wliere he now resides. 
The improvements upon the place, which are 
among the best in the town, are the result 
of his own efforts and industry. His neat 
cottage home, and the solid and substantial 
barn and excellent granary, are all in excel- 
lent keeping, and all his surroundings mani- 
fest both thrift and refinement. 

Mr. Curtis is a native of Clinton county, 
N. Y., and is the son of John and Julia 
(Spinks) Curtis. He was reared and edu- 
cated upon the farm of his father, in that 
picturesque portion of tiie "Empire State," 
where he remained until he had attained the 
age of fourteen years, when, having been 
used to the handling of horses, he commenced 
life In' teaming. Two years later he went 
into tiie lumber woods of that vicinitv, and 
for the ensuing seven years was employed 
during the summer months as foreman of a 
gang of lumbermen, and in the summers fol- 
lowed log-driving for a livelihood. At the 
expiration of tiiat time he came West and 
making his residence at Oconto, Wis- 
consin, followed the same line of business 
for some six years and then came to Stevens 
county, where he has since made his home. 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



4;i 



The subject of this sketch is a self-made 
man in every sense of the word. His father, 
Avho was at one time a man of consid(;raI)ie 
means, lost his mII in the pursuit of his busi- 
ness, which was that of inu)l)er contracting, 
and our subject was compelled to start in 
life at an early age and without mone}' or 
help. By hard and unremitting work, ener- 
gy and an excellent tact he has raised 
himself from comparative poverty to a state 
of atHueuceand comfort. Like a dutiful son, 
he has always assisted his father and the 
elder Mr. Curtis, his wife and a daughter 
now make their home with the son. 

Mr. Curtis is one of a family of six chil- 
dren, born to his parents, the others being — 
Davit), who married Miss Augusta Tripp. 
and is living in Oregon ; Charles Henry, who 
married Miss Clara Pearson, and now resides 
in Stevens county ; Jennie, the wife of James 
McGee. of this county ; Lucy Ann. living in 
Wisconsin, and the wife of Dennison Bill- 
ings ; and Nellie, who is living with her 
brother, William. 

When our suljject came to the county 
there were but a few settlers in what is now 
Baker township, and he has alwa\'s held an 
important place in the matters of the same. 
lie is a republican in his politics, althougli 
the family are democrats. He is a member 
of Winneconne Lodge, No. 161, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, Winneconne, Wiscon- 
sin. 



■^^n\OCTOR CHARLES L. GATES, a suc- 



cessful aiul ellicient ))hysician and 
surgeon residing at Hancock, undoubtedly 
has as extensive a practice as an}' one physi- 
cian in Stevens county. Dr. Gates was i)orn 
in Tioga county. New York, June 11, 1846, 
and is a son of Lattimer H. and Eiizaljeth 
(Sanford) Gates, who were also natives of 
the "Empire State." The father followed 



the business of a contractor and builder 
through life. The family came AVest and 
settletl at lloricon, Wisconsin. Tiiere they 
remained for seven or eight years, and then 
I'eturned to New York State, settling in Can- 
ton, where the father died in August, 1883. 
The mother is still living, being now eighty- 
two 3'ears of age. Tlie parents had a family 
of eleven children, as follows — Edwin, Ange- 
lina, Norton. Lawrence, Hatsey, Luzerne, 
Louisa, Llorace S., Albert, Eliza and Charles 
L. Angelina is now ^frs. Sanford and re- 
sides in Wisconsin; Norton is married, and is 
engaged in the lumber business in New- 
York State ; Lawrence was killed in an ex- 
plosion on a boat in Wisconsin, when twenty- 
five years old ; Hatse\' is married and is em- 
ployed in a packing house in Cedar Bapids, 
Iowa ; Luzerne is married and lives near 
Binghamton, New York; Louisa became the 
wife of H. A. Turner, and died at Janesville, 
Wisconsin, in 1S77. leaving one daughter 
named Jennie L. ; Horace S. is married and 
lives at Cedar Rapids. Iowa; Alljert died at 
Janesville, Wisconsin, when twenty-one years 
old, and Eliza died in infancy. 

Dr. Gates, our present subject, spent his 
boyhood days and received his education in 
the "Empire State." After finishing his 
schooling he adopted the medical profession 
as a life calling, and took a thorough course 
in the Medical College at Cincinnati. Ohio, 
from which he was graduated in 1877. He 
then came to St. Paul and pursued his medi- 
cal studies for nearly three years with Dr. 
C. G. Higby, of that city. At the expiration 
of that time he came to Benson, in Swift 
county, and engaged in pi-acticc. He re- 
mained there for nine years and carried nn 
as extensive a practice as any jiiiysician in 
the county. He tiiere took an active and 
prominent part in all public affairs and edu- 
cational and religious nuittci-s. oi'ganizing tlie 
first Sabbath-school and i)rayer meeting at 
that place. In 1883 he came to Hancock, as he 



442 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



already bad a large business in this vicinity, 
and lias since remained here. He ranks 
high in the community both as a practitioner 
and as a man of high Christian character 
and the strictest integrity and honor. 

Dr. Gates was married August 27, 1879, to 
Miss Hattie E. Cooli, the ceremony taking 
place at Benson. 

In political matters the Doctor is a repub- 
lican, and religiously he is a member of the 
Congregational Church. He is president of 
the Hancock board of health. 



..^- 



WILLIAM MUNRO, the able cashier 
of the Stevens County Bank, came 
to Morris in 1875, and had charge of the St. 
Paul and Pacific Elevator for some three or 
four years. At the expiration of that time 
he entered into partnership with A. A. 
Stone, and the firm thus formed opened a 
hardware store. The same 3'ear Mr. Munro 
purchased the Stevens County Tribune, and 
changing its name to that ot Morris 2ribune, 
occupied the editorial chair until 1882, when 
he sold out the journal to the present proprie- 
tor. He had disposetl of his interest in tlie 
hardware business the year previous, and on 
relinquishing the paper, m company with 
H. H. Wells and others, he organized the 
Stevens County Bank, which was incorpo- 
rated under the State banking laws, with a 
capital of ^25,000. The capital has since 
been increased to $50,000. He was the first 
vice-president, but in 1881 was made cashier, 
and has occu])ied that position ever since. 
He has, also, been interested in the grain 
trade for the last three or four years, and is 
one of the active and prominent business 
men of the village. 

The subject of this biography was Ixn-n in 
Sidney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, 
June 1, 1850, and is tiie son of Hugh and 
Hannah (Croll) Munro, a sketch of whom 



appears, in connection witli the memoirs of 
George H. Munro, in this Album. He was 
educated in Halifax, and spent two summers 
on board of the revenue cutter " Daring." 
In 1866 he went to Newfouniiiand, and en- 
gaged in the mei'cantile and siiipping trade 
until 1870, when he removed to Boston, 
ilassachusetts, and there entered into the 
manufacturing and mercantile trade, and 
I'emained there for two years. He came to 
Minnesota in 1872, and, locating in St. Paul, 
was in the employ of the St. Paul & Pacific 
Railroad Corapanj' for a time, and then took 
charge of their elevator in that city, \vhere 
he remained until coming to Morris. 

Mr. Munro was united in marriage with 
Miss Mary Gofcher, June, 1875; she died the 
year following. On the 3rd of Ajmi, 1878, 
he married Miss Ida A. Stone, the daughter of 
Hon. H. W. Stone, of Stevens county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Munro have four children — Bea- 
trice C, Hugh S., Ida Blanche and Wil- 
liam J. 

In political matters Mr. Munro is a repub- 
lican. He has always taken an active inter- 
est in public matters, and every enterprise 
calculated to aid the development of this 
region has always received his active support 
and encouragement. For several years he 
has held the office of city treasurer, and still 
holds it. Mr. Munro is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, having joined at the age 
of eighteen under Scottish jurisdiction. He 
was one of the charter members of the 
Golden Sheaf Lodge, in Morris, and is also 
a member of the Chapter and Commandery. 



a progressive. 



pi^HRlSTIAN GAARDER, 
x^S^ suijstantial and tlioroujjliii-oino- farmer, 
living on section 26 of Scott township, 
Stevens county, Minnesota, was born October 
14-, 1829, near Christiania, Norwa3\ His 
parents were Ole and Carrie (Anderson) 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



443 



Gaarder, who were also natives of the same 
country. Christum's parents died when he 
was about fourteen years old, since which 
time he has taken care of himself. lie 
worked among the farmers until he was 
twenty-one years of age. lie then served 
as hostler for a i^entieman in the city for 
two years. lie then took a contract for 
railroad work from the (Tovernment, on 
which he worked day and night for seven 
weeks, only getting an iiour's sleep each 
night. He was also cm[)loyed by the 
Government as a boss for tliirteen years. 
In 1868 he came to America, taking a railroad 
contract on the ^ranitoI)a line, under Colonel 
De Gi-atf, where he spent something over a 
year's time. Pie then came to Scott town- 
ship, Stevens county, Minnesota, and took 
up land under the preemption laws. This 
land consisted of 200 acres, on sections 26, 
27, 34 and 35. He was compelled to give 
this land up, so he took a homestead of 
thirty -six acres on section 26, and a tree 
claim of 160 acres on section 34, Scott town- 
ship. He gave the tree claim right up, and 
finally purchased the same at regular price. 
He owns in all 196 acres of land, and is hold- 
ing eighty acres of raih-oad land. 

Mr. Gaarder was mairied in December, 
1878, to Hannah Johnson. He is a staunch 
republican in politics, and has been favored 
with numerous local offices, including chair- 
man of the board of supervisors, and has 
been on the school board ever since the 
district in which he lives was organized, he 
having also taken an active part in effecting 
the organization. lie belongs to the Lutheran 
Church, and is an u[)right, Christian man. 

Since coming to his])resent location he lias 
met with some discouragements, such as the 
loss of three crops l)y devastations of grass- 
hoppers and destruction by hail storms. 
His present improvements are 100 acres of 
well tilled land, a frame house and com- 
motlious barn and granary. Coming to our 



country poor, he has kept persisting, and, 
through that frugality so commonly found 
among the nationality to which he belongs, 
he has finally become comfortably sur- 
rounded, and possessed of a reasonable 
competency. 



-«- 



«^- 



^sS^nwiN J. JONES, a lumber mercliant 
^^^ at Morris, is one of tlie most capable 
and prominent l)usiness men at the county 
seat. A man of tiie strictest integrity', a 
careful business man, and a genial, courteous 
gentleman, he is well known tliroughout the 
county, and does an extensive business in his 
line. 

Mr. Jones is a native of Beaver Dam, Wis- 
consin, born August 22, 1858, and is a son of 
Evan J. and Julia Jones. He received an 
excellent education in his native State, attend- 
ing the common schools and supplementing 
this with one year in the State University at 
Madison, Wisconsin. After finishing his 
education in 1878, became to Morris, Stevens 
county, Minnesota, and established his pres- 
ent lumber yard. He has I)een in trade 
here ever since, and has taken an active and 
prominent part in all matters calculated to 
benefit either town or county. He has served 
as a member of tiie village council several 
years and one year as president of that body. 
He is one of the most active and prominent 
members of the Masonic fraternity in the 
county, being a member of tlie Blue Lodge, 
Chapter and Commandery. He has risen 
rapidly in the ranks of the order, and is now 
holding some office in each of the lodges men- 
tioned. He is also a member of the Minne- 
apolis Consistorj', A. A. S. R., and Zuhrah 
Temple A. A. N. M. S., and belongs to the 
Morris Lodge of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. 

Our subject was married on the 28th of 
May, 1883, to Miss Nellie Butterlield, of 



444 



STErE.VS COUNTY, MIXNESOTA. 



Wisconsin, and they are the parents of one 
child — Henry B. 

In political matters Mr. Jones affiliates 
with the rej)ul)lican party, and is an active 
worker foi- the success of that organization, 
being at present chaii-nian of the republican 
committee and president of the local repub- 
lican club. 



AMUEL HOLMES, one of ihe most 
highly respecteil citizens of Stevens 
county, is a resident of section 2, Rendsville 
township, lie is a farmer and also a good 
carpenter. He is an Englishman by birth, 
born in Lincolnshire, Englanil, May 29, 1835. 
His parents were Robert and Susan (Burt) 
Holmes. He did not have the advantages 
the boys of to-day have as to gaining a lib- 
eral education, as he only received ten 
months' schooling, and that in the State of 
New York. He worked at common labor 
in England until he reached the age of six- 
teen, when he came to the United States, 
alone, landing at New York harboi', April 
2-f, 1S51, being on the voyage across the 
ocean twenty-two da3's. Notwithstanding 
there were live passengers died en route, the 
trip was called a very pleasant and safe one. 
Our subject went direct to Courtland county. 
New York, and there hired out on a farm, 
where he remained until he became of age. 
He lived in the little village of Homer until 
he enlisted, November 5, 1862, m company 
" H," Fiftieth New York Engineer Corps. 
The}' were sent to the field in Virginia, and 
took active part in the battles of " Burn- 
side's Slaughter" of 1862; at Gettysburg and 
the Wilderness. They were nearly always 
under heavy lire. They were at PetersV)urg 
and followed the army up until the surren- 
der of General Lee's array,which sounded the 
death lilow to the great American Civil Wai". 

at Washing- 



He was at the Grand Review 



ton. May 21, 22 and 23, 1865, and was 
discharged in Virginia, but mustered out in 
regular form at Elmira, New York, the last 
of June, 1S65, where they were paid olf in 
full and sent homeward in peace. He then 
went back to Homer, and settled down, 
working as a carpenter and also farming 
some. 

Mr. Holmes was married Febi'uary 10, 
1857, to Mary Elizebetli Pratt, of Homer, 
New York, a native of Cattaragus county, of 
the same State. Her parents were Samuel 
and Sally (Graham) Pratt. Mrs. Holmes 
was born October 22, 1844. They came to 
Minnesota in 1877, and, during the month of 
December of that year, took a homestead on 
section 2 of the township in which they 
still live. They built a house, into which 
they moved on January 17, 1878. Our 
subject and his estimable wife ai'e the 
parents of three children — Susan, born 
March 10, 1862, in New York, who is now 
the wife of B. K. Rush, of Dakota; George 
Albert, born in April, 1867, now living at 
home, and Mina Estella, who is deceased. 
Tlie parents are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and Mr. Holmes is a dem- 
ocrat in his politics. 



^m^HOMAS A. CALLAHAN, a prominent 
VU dealer in farm machinery, threshers, 
plows, cultivators, etc., in the village of Mor- 
ris, came to that place in September, 1880, 
and for a time was engaged in looking the 
country over. He then took charge of the 
grading of the Northern Pacific Railroad, 
and followed that business for a short time. 
In 1882, he located in Morris, and, in com- 
pany with C. P. Maginnis, noAv of Duluth, 
entered into the agricultural imi)lement 
trade. He has also run several threshing 
machines every fall, during the proper sea- 
son, until last j'ear. Since his location here 



STF.l'ENS COCXTY. Ar/.VXESOTA. 



445 



he has taken an active interest in all town 
matters, especially in the lire department, 
which he helped to orj^ani/.o, and for tiie last 
year or so has been its chief. He has also 
been influential in the building of theschoo' 
and other public editices, and has given lib- 
erally of his means for their support. 

Mr. Callahan is a native of Ireland, and 
was born December 20, ISiS. lie was 
brought to the United States by his parents 
when he was six 3'ears of age. The family 
stayed in New York for a short time, and 
then went to Indiana, and about one year 
after their landing in the United States, they 
settled in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, 
where Thomas A. was reared. In December, 
1863, while attending school at Ripon, he en- 
listed in Company C, First Wisconsin Cav- 
alry, and that winter was with General Jud- 
son A. Kilpatrick, in Southern Tennessee, 
and afterward at the seige of Atlanta. 
After the fall of that place the regiment of 
which he was a member was sent back to 
Altoona Pass, and there participated in the 
battle at that point. They were then sent 
to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were 
recruited up, as the regiment had dwindled 
to a small batallion, and from there went to 
Nashville. After the battle at the latter 
city, he participated in the pursuit of Hood's 
beaten columns as far as Duck River, thirty 
or forty miles. While trying to cross the 
sti'eam, the bridge broke and he was precip- 
itated into the water, and as it was in De- 
cember, he nearly perisiied with the cold. 
He jum]ied from his horse and caught a 
floating plank and was swept down stream 
some three or four miles, witli several others, 
and on reaching the shore went to a negro's 
cabin to warm, and remained there all night, 
and the next day found the regiment. A 
short time after this he was with the regi- 
ment in the column of General Wilson, who 
started with 13,(t0(l cavalry for Macon, 
Georgia, to try and capture Jeff. Davis. He 



was one of the volunteers that carried the 
dispatches to the detached companies that 
told of the fall of Richmond and tiie capture 
of the rebel President. From INlacon the 
command marched to Nashville, where he 
received his discharge, and returned to his 
home in " the Badger State." 

For some years after returning he was en- 
gaged in the lumbering business from the 
headwaters of the W^isconsin River to St. 
Louis. At the time of the buikling of the 
Wisconsin Central Railroad, Mr. Callahan 
was employed as foreman on the construc- 
tion for two \'ears and in the same position 
one year on the Green Pay & Minnesota 
Railroad. Returning to the lumber business 
he put up a saw mill between Stevens Point 
and Plainfleld, AVisconsin. and after three 
years sold out and came to this county, as 
has been stated. 

Mr. Callahan was united in marriage, June 
18, 1872, with Miss Mary McLaughlin, and 
they have a family of seven children — Nel- 
lie, Maggie, Frank, Edward, George, Agnes 
and Charles. 

Our subject is a member of Overton Post, 
No. 99, Grand Army Republic ; and of Mor- 
ris Division, Ancient Order of Hibernians, 
No.l. 



-♦► 



/p|v\LE O. AASUMB. one of the leading 
xSy citizens of the town of Donnelly, is 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, on his line- 
farm of 160 acres, on section 2. He has 
some fifty acres under cultivation, has a neat 
and handsome house and all the necessary 
out-buildings, and the whole surrounded by 
a natural grove. When he came to this 
country he was a poor man, but l)y tlie ex- 
ercise of industry, energy and economy, has 
risen to a state of comparative alfluencc. 
The subject of this sketch was l>orn in 



446 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Norway. May 27, 1837, and is the son of Ole 
and Greta Hanson. lie was reared in the 
land of his birtli, and at the age of eighteen 
years, began tlie battle of life for himself, 
working on the railroad, and finally became 
what is called in this country a section boss. 
He followed that business until 1871, when 
he left his native land, and immigrated to 
the United States, and on landing came to 
Minnesota. Arriving in Stevens county, he 
engaged in railroad work, and remained in 
that employment for three years, and then 
located on a homestead of eighty acres, on 
section 2, where he now resides. He, like 
others, lost one crop by the grasshoppers, 
and another by hail, but has had very fair 
success in his efforts toward a competency. 

Ml-. Aasumb was united in marriage, in 
Norwa}', September 20, 1865, with Miss 
Rand}^ Edmondson, and by this union, they 
are the parents of six children, who bear the 
following names — Ellen G., Otilda Gurel- 
dina, Anna Carolina, Hannah Marie, Carrie 
Andrea and Peter Ole. 

Mr. Aasumb and his family are members 
of the Lutheran Church, and are active in all 
work for the advancement of the cause of 
religion and morality. He is a prohibitionist 
in his views and politics, and is a warm sup- 
porter of the movement to suppress the traffic 
in all intoxicating liquors. He is one of the 
prominent citizens of the town and receives 
the esteem and respect of the entire com- 
munitv in which he lives. 



-«^ 




^EV. CHARLES HOLLMANN, one of 
the inost prominent citizens of the 
village of Morris, is a native of Prussia, 
Germany, and was born March 3, 1822, and 
was confirmed in the Lutheran Church in his 
childhood. At the age of fourteen he com- 
menced to learn the trade of tobacco manu- 



facturing, and when fifteen years old was 
converted. For several 3'ears thereafter he 
was quite active in the temperance cause, 
which was then agitating the German nation, 
lecturing and doing other active work. 
After finishing his trade he went to Berlin, 
Prussia, and was there educated in the 
Moravian Missionarj^ Institute, where he re- 
mained two years. In ISli he was appointed 
as a missionary to Texas, but on reaching 
New Orleans, learned of the war then raging 
between Mexico and that Republic and 
thinking the time ill chosen, went to St. 
Louis. On liis arrival tliere he went to work 
at his trade in a tobacco factory, and as he 
was well acquainted with the business he was 
offered verv flattering inducements to stay, 
but declined. 

Not being able to fall into the ways of the 
Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church, he 
joined the German Methodist Church and 
shortly after, the minister of his church being 
informed of Mr. Hollmann's previous training 
for the work, invited the latter to preach for 
him one Sabbath evening. The next da}^ 
our subject was licensed to preach, and 
started out as a missionary in the South. 

The country was sparsely settled, and he 
traveled on horseback, and a great many 
nights slept out of doors in the timber and 
ap]ieased his hunger with the wild berries 
that grew at the roadside. Nor was this the 
worst of his troubles. Many of the people 
of that region at that time were a rough and 
lawless set, and had little or no sympathy 
with any Church movement, and Mr. HoU- 
mann was often turned out of the ])lace of 
meeting by this element and endured manj' 
abuses at their hands. But the Lord 
blessed his labors, and he was enabled to 
establish the first church in Jackson 
county, Missouri, and continued on that circuit 
for eighteen months and accomplished 
much good with the help from Above. 
Returning to St. Louis, he was sent to 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



447 



Burlington, Iowa, in wl)ich city he estab- 
lished the first German church and for a 
year made tliat place his headquarters. He 
then returned to St. Louis and was in the 
missionary Held in that city and started a 
day school, in 1S49, and a Sabbath school the 
following year. During the cholera that 
desolated the South those years, he and his 
estinial)le wife threw themselves into the 
work of nursing the sick, his medical know- 
ledge beinjj: of vast benefit under tliecircum- 
stances, and saved many lives. 

In 1S50 Mr. Ilollmann went to Galena, 
Illinois, and built the parsonage and en- 
larged the church there. While in that 
place he suffered violence at the hands of 
those who were opposed to all Church wo rk 
and bears the scars to tliis day. The next 
two years he spent in Quincy, Illinois, and 
from there went to Burlington again. All 
this time he was employed in traveling 
throughout the country as a pioneer itinerant 
preacher like so many of his noble compeers 
of that day and generation. After some 
more time spent in St. Louis, he came to St. 
Paul in 1S5G and for several yeais traveled 
tiirough the southern part of Minnesota, 
carrying the Gospelto the people of tiiat re- 
gion. Two years at Red Wing, and the .same 
length of time in Le Seuer, and then became 
to Minneapolis, where he remained one 
winter. From there he returned to Galena, 
but two years later, his health failing, he 
went to his boyhood's home, in Gei'many, 
where he remained six montiis. lleturning 
to this country, he again took uj) his Master's 
work and labored in various parts of this 
State. In 1ST!), his health giving way, he was 
superannuated, and came to Morris, where 
he now resides. He is the possessor of a 
Bible printed in the firet part of tiie fif- 
teenth century, which is in the German lan- 
guage, and is valued at over $800. 

Tliis faitiiful watciiman upon the walls of 
Zion was united in uuirriage, July 19, 1S49, 



with Mrs. Louisa Pepper, of Burlington, 
Iowa, a native of Prussia, and the widow of 
Charles L. Pepper. 

Rev. Hollmann is a man whom it is a 
pleasure to meet. His extensive travels and 
the hardships and trials he endured in jiioncer 
times furni.sh the basis of a fund of reminis- 
cences seemingly inexhaustible. A com- 
plete and detailed history of his life work 
would fill a volume, lie is a man of line 
mental attainments, a man of extensive read- 
ing and ripe scholarship, and, above all, a 
sincere Chi-istian. And now, broken in 
health, wearied by many years of the most 
trying labor, after having endui-ed hardships 
and sufl'ering which would make the stoutest 
heart quail, yet never faltering when duty 
called, he is living retired, en joying the well 
earned respite of a long, useful and noble 
life, and is spending the evening of his 
days in peace and quiet. Eespected and es- 
teemed b}' all, his spotless integrity and high 
character, together with his long and de- 
voted service to the Great Giver and to 
humanity, his name will always be held in 
reverence and resj)ect. Few men deserve 
more from the pen of the biographer than 
does he of whom we wi'ite. 



[M 



• •♦ > • •^€?^- < '■ • 

ilENRY JOHNSON, the well-known, 
^^ proprietor of the North Star Flour- 
ing Vi'xW of the town of Framnas. is the owner 
of a large and well-improved f'ai'm of 440 
acres on section 8. He is a native of Nor- 
way, born October 20, lS2.i, and is tiie son 
of John and Ingerberg (Peterson) Larson. 
He was reared in the land of his birth and 
tiiere received a common-school education 
and made his home in that kingdom until at- 
taininir manliood. In 1850 he came to this 
country with hisjiarents, and landed at New 
York. From that }>ort he went to Vernon 
county, Wisconsin, and was there engaged 



448 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



in fai-ming for over twenty years In 1871 
he came to Stevens county and preempted 
a claim where he now lives. Setting to work 
at once on the erection of the mill, he had it 
running' the following- vear. This was the 
first grist mill witiiin the limits of the county, 
and ,at that time it had Ijut one run of buhrs. 
A few years later he added another run and 
in 1870 two more. It has now a daily capa- 
city of some seventy -five barrels. In 1880 
Mr. Johnson added an elevator for the 
storage of grain. This mill supplies a large 
portion of the flour of the county, and is one 
of the leading industries of this part of the 
State. During the year 1887, the mill was 
remodeled throughout. All the buhrs were 
thrown out and their places were supplied 
by four sets of double rollers, also a great 
deal of new machinerv, making it one of the 
best equipped mills in this region. In the 
present season (1888) additional improve- 
ments are being made, and the equipment 
and capacity of the mill increased by the ad- 
dition of two run of stones — one for feed and 
the other for buckwheat, corn, etc. 

Mr. Johnson was united in marriage. July 
21, 1860. with Miss Bertha Thorstad, whose 
parents are residents of this county. By this 
union there have been born unto them a 
famify of six children — Anton, Julius, Olof, 
Julia, Clara and Maria, all of whom are liv- 
ing. 

The subject of this memoir is a consistent 
and zealous member of the Lutheran Church, 
and takes great interest in the promotion of 
all religious work. In his political views he 
is entirely independent of party lines, pre- 
ferring to vote anil work for the best men 
for the offices, and for the measures most 
likely to inure to tlie benefit of the commu- 
nity and the country at large. A man of 
sterling integrity and ))ersonal worth, he 
merits and receives the warmest esteem of 
his fi'iends and neighbors and the respect of 
all who know him. 



JptORACE J. DRESSER, one of the most 
^"^^ prominent citizens of the southern 
part of Stevens county, is a resident of Han- 
cock and a dealer in imported horses. He has 
taken an active part in all moves to raise the 
grade of horses and cattle in this part of the 
State, and in 1885 was elected secretary and 
treasurer of the Pope and Stevens Counties 
Breeders Association, which positions he still 
holds. 

Mr. Dresser is a native of Minnesota, hav- 
ing been born in the city of St. Paul, on the 
19th of January, 1853. His parents were 
Horace and Elizabeth (Johnson) Dresser, 
who were natives of New York and Ver- 
mont, respectively, his father having been a 
farmer and stock-raiser through life. The 
parents came to the then Territory of Minne- 
sota at an early day and settled at St. Paul, 
where Horace J. was born. In 1886 the par- 
ents removed to California where they still 
live. Horace Dresser, Sr., and wife were the 
parents of four children, as follows — Caro- 
line, Horace J., Alice and Mary. Alice died 
at Pine Bend, Minnesota, about 1873, and 
the rest are still living. 

Horace J. Dresser spent his boyhood and 
received his eaiiy education at Pine Bend, 
Minnesota, where his parents were then liv- 
ing. He finished his education at the High 
School in the city of St. Paul, when twenty 
years of age. After finishing his schooling 
he was engaged in farming for a short time, 
and then for three years was "on the road " 
as a traveling salesman and collector. At 
the expiration of that time, 1879, he came to 
Pope county and located upon a half section 
of land on sections 16 and 21, AValden town- 
township, near Hancock village. Finding, 
however, that it would be much more advan- 
tageous for liis business interests, in the 
spring of 1888 he removed to the village of 
Hancock, still retaining his farm, and devot- 
ing his attention to farming and to raising 
and breeding horses. 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



449 



Mr. Dresser was married, in March, 18S0, 
to Miss Ciurie Wlieeler, and they arc tlie 
jKireiits of tliroo ciiilch'cn — Charles, Ilerold 
and Kiuiii. Mrs. Dresser is anative ot'New 
York, and a {hui_<^litcr of Lemuel Wheeler. 
At an early day her parents removed with 
her to Minnesota and settled at Grand 
Meadow, where she was brought up, edu- 
cated and married to Mr. Dresser. 

In political matters, our subject is a re- 
publican, lie is a man of the strictest integ- 
I'ity, and is one of the representative citizens 
of the localit}' in which he lives. 



^TaMES W. bailey, a prominent citizen 
of Morris, came to that village in LS7S, 
and entered into the contracting and building 
business, and has followed that line ever 
since. All the principal edifices in the place 
are the result of his hibors, both in the village 
and in the surrounding country, he having 
put uj) over $100,000 worth of buildings in 
the agi'icultvu'al districts alone. He is also 
interested in the raising of fine horses, and 
has some of the finest stock in this line in 
the county. 

Mr. Bailey is a native of Jefferson county, 
New York, and was born February 2, 1852. 
His parents, Samuel and liebecca M. Bailey, 
were natives of England and America, re- 
spectively. His father was bi'ought to this 
country when but eight years of age, and 
was reared in New York State. In 18t)3 our 
subject was taken to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 
by his parents, and there the father followed 
carpentering until his death. His mother is 
living in Alorris with her son in-law. (4. E. 
Darling. 

At the age of twelve years, the subject of 
this sketch commenced to learn the car- 
penter's trade, and servcnl an a|)|)rentic('ship 
of thi'ce years, autl ever situ-e he was tifl(?en 
has carried on business for himself. The 



3'ear before he began learning the trade ho 
was employed in lathing, and made three 
dollars a day at that. At the age of sixteen, 
he took a contract to build a house, and for 
several years was with William Dense!, of 
Fond du Lac, in the building business, he 
having charge of the work as foreman. 

Having a natni'al genius in his business, 
Mr. Bailey has met with a merited success in 
Morris, and now owns some $9,000 or §10,000 
worth of property in the village, all the result 
of his own industry and business ability. He 
was married, October 28, 1881, to Miss Sarah 
Wolff, of Bird Island, Eenville countjf, and 
the issue of this union have been two chil- 
dren — Cai'shene and Boyd Douglas. Both 
he and his wife are members of the Con- 
gregational Church. In liis ))olitics he is a 
republican, but generally votes for the best 
man for the office, i-ather than for creed. 



ARDNER CONVERS TOWNER, one 
of the most highly res[)('cled citizens 
of Stevens county, now lives on section 4, 
]\rorris township. He is a native of Essex 
county. New York, born August 25, 18i3, 
and is the son of Benjamin F. and Lobelia 
(Moss) Towner. Tiie father came from 
Massachusetts and the mother from Vermont. 
Gardner learned the blacksmith's trade, but 
at the age of eighteen joined the army, 
enlisting August 25, 18C2, in C(nn])any L, 
Ninth New Y'ork Cavalry, serving until 
June 8, 1865. He was in the Methodist 
Church hospital, at Alexandria, Virginia, for 
about two months, after wliich he received 
a furlough for a short time. After his time 
expired in the army he went liack to New 
York, where he lived until 1873, and then 
came to McLeod county, Minnesota. After 
a short stay there In; came to Morris town- 
ship, Stevens county, where he has remained 
ever since. The first month he was in tho 



450 



STEvrxs cou.vrv, .uixxesota. 



county he worked on a farm, and then he 
worked as a section hand on the railway 
until winter. During that winter he worked 
at the blacksmith's trade. It was during 
that stormy winter that lie started home, a 
little over a mile away, and found the 
storm so severe that he had to go on his 
hands and knees to get to the house. He got 
past his house and took the wrong road and 
kept circling about in the blinding storm, 
which Avas so hard he was compelled to turn 
his back towards it, in order to breathe. 
Ilis house was twelve rods from the road- 
side and so furious was the wintry blast, 
that it could not be seen by him any of the 
time. He finally made a bold venture, 
thinking he could find his house, and, as Pro- 
vidence seemed to ordain, he did strike the 
right direction, and finally got to his own 
door, just escaping a terrible death. This 
w^as the memorable winter in which so 
many j)ersons perished. 

Mr. Towner was married to Maggie 
O'Brien, on September 23, 186S. They have 
five bright, intelligent children — Archie S., 
Warren C, Kate D., Mayfred X. and Edna L. 

In his political belief our subject is a 
republican. He has had an eventful life, and 
has succeeded in getting for himself and 
family a fine farm-home. He owns a half 
section of good, Avell-iinproved land, and is 
rated as one of the leading farmers of that 
portion of the countv. 



S-'^'-^LEMONT OLSON, whose home is on 
section S, Rendsville township, is a 
native of Norway, born September 20, 1845. 
His parents wereOle and Mary (^Christenson) 
Anderson. At the age of three years his 
father died, and liis mother married again. 
Clemont worked on the home farm — some- 
times for liis brother. He had a common 
school education. When he was twenty- 



three years old he started for America, start- 
ing July 15. 1868. He was six weeks on the 
ocean voyage — eight weeks from Christiania 
to New York. He worked on a farm in 
New Tork a month and then came to Wis- 
consin and spent one winter, and from there 
went to Vermont, where he was employed in 
the granite quarries. From there he went to 
Crown Point, New York, and woi'ked for 
twenty months in an iron mine. April 15, 
1869, he was united in marriage to Andeura 
Olson, of AVisconsin, in which State they 
were married. In ISTi they moved to Min- 
nesota, coming to Rendsville township, where 
he preempted a quarter of section 8. He 
proved up on one-half of it and made a home- 
stead of the other iialf. This has come to be 
the pleasant and valuable home they now 
occupy. 

They have had the following children, only 
five of whom are now living, none beins; 
married — Mens, Alfi-ed, Othelia (deceased), 
Carl, Hilda (deceased), Ole and Mary (twins, 
both deceased), Ole and Meni (twins), Sigwert 
Otto. 

Our subject has taken an active part in 
public matters. He has been supervisor of his 
township for two years. In politics he is 
independent, and belongs to the Lutheran 
Cliurch. This is in brief the history of one of 
Norway's sons who has seen a varied life of 
travel and labor. He came to our shores 
with no means, and through years of toil and 
self-denial has finally gathered together a 
good property and possesses a fine, comforta- 
ble home, and enjoys the esteem of all his 
fellow nei"hbors. 



PETER C. MACKENZIE, the suliject of 
this article, is a thrifty and prominent 
agriculturist, residing on sction 32 of El-- 
ilorado township. He first saw the light 
in Moray Siiire, Scotland, July 5, 1853, and 



S'rfiVF.V.'^ COUXTV, M/.V.VF.SOTA. 



45« 



up to the year 1S73 he remained at home 
witli liis parents, Alloti and Anna Mackenzie, 
ciiergvtic representatives of tiie sturdv Scot- 
tish i"ici'. In lST-5 he ininiigrateil to America, 
and, on iiearing- of the superior advantages of 
tlie State of ^Finnesota, decided to jonrne\- 
thither. lie settled in St. Paid, Minnesota, and 
secured work in the St. Paul Harvester Works, 
at wliicli occupation lie was emjihjyed for a 
l)eriod of live ycai'S. Our subject then came 
to Stevens county and filed on a homestead 
of 160 acres, on section 32, Eklorado town- 
ship. Here he has since remained, engaged 
extensively in general farming and stock- 
raising, lie lias a well improved farm of 
IfiO aci-es, all of which is under cultivation. 
In his political views he favors the iH^puhlican 
partv. and interests himself in all public and 
etiucational movements, whereby his town- 
ship may l)e benefited. lie is a conscien- 
tious adherent of the Presbvterian Ciiurch. 



-«-; 



-^> 



^^TEPHEN H. DULEY, M. D., a member 
^^^3) of the medical fraternity of Morris, 
and one of the most successful and promi- 
nent practitioners in Stevens county, located 
in the city of Morris in October, 1883, and 
opened an office for the practice of his pro- 
fession, and has remained ever since. He 
was born in Russia, Herkimer county. New 
York, June 9, 1828, and is a son of Benjeman 
and Amy A. (Harmon) Duley. At the age 
of fifteen he started in the world for himself, 
leaving home in the most destitute condition. 
He liad no resources but in himself, and ac- 
quired his education by studying at night. 
He was in attendance foi- a few months at 
an academy, but was unable to continue on 
account of lack of means. 

For the next four years after leaving home 
he was engaged at whatever he cotdd find to 
do, and only b}' hard work and economy was 



he enabled to succeed. At the age of nine- 
teen he commenced the study of medicine at 
Plessis, Jefifei'son county, New Y'ork, with 
Doctoi's llutchins and Ilosford. After bein"- 
with them one yeai' he was mari'icd to Miss 
Phoebe Fox, of the same county, and ^started 
for Wisconsin, locating at (iravesvillc, when; 
he entered upon clinical work with Dr. Al- 
den, and studied and jiracticed at the same 
time with his preceptor. Five or six 3'eai's 
latei", he removed to Westfield, Marquette 
county, Wisconsin, and commenced the i)rac- 
tice of medicine, and shortly after went to 
Chicago, Illinois, and attended Bennett Med- 
ical College, from which he graduated in 
1878. He returned to Westfield, and again 
opened an office. There he remained until 
1882, when he came to Minnesota and opened 
an office at Benson. Swift county, where he 
practiced until coming to ^[orris. 

Di'. and Mrs. Duley ai'e the ])arents of live 
children, only one of whom is living, Ala 
M., now of ]\rarquette, Wisconsin. In his 
politics the Doctor is and has always been a 
democrat. Since his coming here his prac- 
tice has gradually increased and he is justly 
considei'ed to be one of the successful prac- 
titioners of the county. 

John R. HOLTON, a highly respected 



and successful business man of the vil- 
lage of Hancock, is proprietor of the only 
harness shop at that place. Mr. Ilolton was 
born at Newport, Washington county, Minn- 
esota, December 27, 1800. and is a son of 
David and Cynthia (Atkinson) Ilolton, na- 
tives of Main and Pennsylvania, respectively. 
The parents came to Minnesota at an early 
day, and were married in this State. Tiie 
father died in Washington county, Minnesota, 
in 1867, and the mother still lives there. 
David Holton and wife were the parents of 



452 



5 TE VEXS CO VXT Y, MtXXE SO TA . 



eight children, as follows — Etta, Melissa, 
Orra, Elra, John E., Frank, Charles and 
Walter, all of whom are living. 

John R. liolton spent his school days in 
"Washington county, Minnesota, attending 
school until he was fifteen years of age. 
He then engaged in farming and followed 
that for four years. On the 1st of June, 
1872, he came to Stevens county, and located 
at Hancock, where he has since lived. Dur- 
ing the first three years of his residence 
here he ran a livery stable, but at the expira- 
tion of that time he purchased the harness 
business of xVlbert Olson, and since that time 
has carried on his present business. 

Our siibject was married in Xovember, 
1SS7, to Miss Anna Erickson. She is a 
native of Minnesota, and a daughtei- of Peter 
Erickson. 

In political matters Mr. Holton is a repulj- 
lican, and luis always taken an active interest 
in ])ul)lic mattei-s. He is the present village 
marshal. Mr. Ilolton is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and also of the Sons of 
Temperance. 



1^ RANK A. HANCOCK, of the firm of 
iP^ Hancock & Stebbins, dealers in 
p-roceries, etc., came to Stevens countv in 
January, 1880, and worked at the carpen- 
ter's bench for some two or three years. 
He then, in company with his brother, W. 
B. Hancock, engaged in the contracting and 
building business, and followed it until the 
fall of 1887. In the mean time, in 1886, he 
had formed a partnership with S. J. Steb- 
bins, and purchased the stand of N. R. Spurr, 
who had been engaged in the grocery trade, 
and since the fall of 1887 has been in the 
store, actively engaged in this line of business. 
Mr. Hancock was born in Washington 
county, Vermont, January 14, 1862, and is 
the son of Ileman and Marietta (Colburn) 



Hancock. He was reared upon his father's 
farm, and received his education in the com- 
mon-schools of his native State. His home 
was in the county of his birth until 1880, 
when he took the advice of the " Sage of 
Chappa(jua.'' and came West, locating at 
Morris, wliere he spent two years going to 
school, working at his trade in the mean 
time to paj' expenses. His parents, who are 
natives of Oxford, New Hampshire, and 
Canada, respectively, are still living on their 
farm in Vermont, where the}' were married. 

The subject of this sketch started out in 
life for himself at the age of eighteen years, 
and since that time depended entirely on his 
own exertions. By his industry and energy 
he has placed himself among the foremost 
business men of Stevens count\% and since 
the day of their start in their present busi- 
ness Messrs. Hancock & Stebbins have had a 
large and increasing trade, and have, at this 
writing, the best grocery stoi'e in the village. 

Mr. Hancock is an active member of the 
Masonic fraternity, having been made a 
Mason in Golden Sheaf Lodge, No. 133, of 
Morris, in 1SS3, and is a member of Mount 
Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, E. A. M.; and of 
Bethel Commandcry, No. 19, K. T. 

Our subject was mariied, Sei)tember 14, 
1887, to Miss Ida Stebbins. 



WILLIAM PENN WARE, an ex-union 
soldier, is now a farmer on section 
35, Scott township, Stevens county. He is 
a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born 
August 8, 1828. His parents were Isaac and 
Mary Ann (Hughes) Ware, natives, respect- 
ively, of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Our 
subject remained at home, attending school 
and working until 1844. He then engaged 
in a woolen factory at Bariy, Pike county, 
Illinois, to which place his parents had 
moved in 1839. He served four years in 



STF.rrcxs; cor.vTV. m/.v.vesota. 



453 



Wikes' factoiy, working for wages two years, 
tlie other time spent in apprentice work in 
the mills. After loaviiig- this factory, he 
went home and remained until he was twen- 
ty-six years old. He was married to Louisa 
Jane Boxloy. daughter of "William and ]\Iary 
(Roe) Huxley. This marriage union has been 
blessed by the following children — Henry, 
^[ary Kninia. Frank and Carrie. The last 
named is now deceased, and the other chil- 
dren are unmarried and at home yet. 

ilr. Ware enlisted in Company D, Ninety- 
ninth Illinois Infantry, in August, 1862, 
and renutined in the service until August, 
18(35. He belonged to the Thirteenth Arm\' 
Corps, and ])articipated in the battle of Ilarts- 
ville, ilissouri, and Magnolia Hill, Louisiana; 
he was in three battles before they got to 
Black River. He was at A^icksburg, New 
Orleans, crossed the Gulf to Indianolia, and 
heljied take Fort Esperanza, where they re- 
mained until nearly spring, and then went to 
New Orleans again, from there to Mobile 
and Spanish P'ort. He was also at Fort 
Blakely, then returned to ifobile and re- 
mamed till jieace was declaretl. lie was, 
however, with the army when they went 
up the lied River to Shreve])ort, where 
the rebels surrendered to them. From 
there they went back to Baton Rouge, and 
were mustered out and sent to Springfield, 
Illinois, where they were finally paid off and 
dischargeil. Mr. Ware then returned home, 
remaining there until 1880, being engaged 
for nine years as an engineer of a mill. In 
1880 he came to the county and township in 
which he now lives, jnirchasing 110 acres of 
railroad l:in(J, on section 35. He has eighty 
acres under a good state of cultivation, and 
has comfortable building improvements. 

Politically, oui- subject is a democrat. 
He belonjis to Lodjie No. o.'jU Odd Fellows' 
Order, at Barry, Illinois. He is an enterpris- 
ing farmer, and stands high in the opinion of 
his neighbors. 



#OHN KEIM, a prosperous and energetic 
agriculturist, of Stevens county, is liv- 
ing on section 20, Eldorado township, where 
he is engaged extensively and successfully in 
general farming and stock-raising. He be- 
longs to the thrifty nationality of the Oer- 
mans, being born in that Empire June 20. 
1826, and is a son of Jermias and Susan 
Keim, both of whom were also natives of 
that Fatherland. U]) to the age of twentv- 
two John worked in his father's stone- 
quarry, and in 1852 he came to the United 
States and settled in Buffalo, New York. He 
worked there on the street at seventy-live 
cents a da_y, pajing his own board, for two 
years, when he went to Cattaraugus county, 
New^ York. After pui'chasing fifty aci'cs of 
land in that count}', he was engaged in the 
occupation of farming for the next two 
years, then sold out and came to St. Paul, 
Minnesota. Here he went to work as a 
mason, and, until April 15, 1802, we find him 
engaged in this labor. April 15, 1802, he 
enlisted in Company I, Fourth Minnesota In- 
fantry, and served until April 15, 1805, when 
he was honorably discharged atAVilmington, 
Delaware. He participated in eleven hard- 
foug-ht engagements, and on his dischara:e he 
was forced to go to Washington, District of 
Columbia, for his pay. 

Mr. Keim then returned to his home, where 
he remained until 1873, when he bought a 
place in White Bear township, Ramsey 
county, Minnesota. After remaining there 
for five years, engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, he sold out and came to Stevens county, 
and took a homestead of KiO acres on sec- 
tion 20, Eldorado townshi[), where he has 
since remained. In 1880 he lost his crop by 
hail, but otherwise he has met with the best 
of success. 

The subject of this biography was united 
in marriage in July. 1848, to Miss Helen 
Deitz. daughter of Jacol) and Elizebcth Deitz, 
and this union has been blessed with the fol- 



454 



STEVEIVS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



lowing children — Peter, married to ]\Iiss 
Louisa Kragen, and is living in Eaii Claire, 
Wisconsin; Anna, married to Mr. llillker; 
Adam, married to Miss Emma McRoberts, 
and is living in Eldorado township; and 
Louis, married to Miss Nornbach, and lives 
in Eldorado township. Our subject is a man 
of the highest integrity. At present he holds 
. the office of road overseer, and in political 
matters he is an adiierent to the principles of 
the republican party. He and his family 
are exemplary nunnbers of the Lutheran 
Church. 



XiluGH WHITELEY, the president of the 
X'tl_ Morris Ei'ick Manufacturing Com- 
])any. came to that vilhige in 1ST6, and was 
deputy postmaster for two or three years. 
At the expiration of that time he was elected 
to fill the office of county treasui-er, and was 
re-elected his own successor, serving in that 
capacity for seven successive j^ears. During 
this time the Morris Brick Yard and Manu- 
facturing Company was organized and when 
it became an incorporated bod^^ Mr. White- 
ley was appointed president and general 
manager and has given that his attention 
ever since. When he left the treasurer's 
office it was to take charge of the Morris 
Loan and Abstract Com]iany's affair, but 
shortly after, not approving of their methods 
of doing business, withdrew, and has been de- 
voting his attention to the brickyard and in 
assisting his wife in her millinery and not ion 
store. He has occupied an important place 
in the town and village, and m 1S87 was 
elected to the council on the anti-license 
ticket, and has been a member of the school 
board for five years. 

Mr. Whiteley is a native of the North of 
Ireland, and was born ^fay 12, 1825. He re- 
mained in the land of his birth until he was 
twenty years of age, and then came to the 



United States. Although he had been 
brought up on a farm, he located in Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, and there engaged in 
clerical labor for a number of years. In 
1871 he came West, and on bis arrival at St. 
Cloud, Minnesota, drove across the State to 
Traverse county, a distance of 150 miles, and 
took up a claim, and followed farming for the 
succeeding five years, and never harvested a 
crop owing to the destruction of the seed or 
grain by blackbirds, gophers or grassliop})ers. 
At the end of that time he came to Morris, 
and has been here ever since. He is the 
owner of 160 acres of land in the town of 
Horton, and consideraljle ])roperty in the vil- 
lage. 

Mr. Whiteley was married in August, 1801, 
to Miss Mary AA'ljite, and they have a family 
of six children whose names are, respec- 
tively — Martha J., George, Minnie, Kellie, 
Frank and ^Vfaud. 

The family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and are active workers in 
religious and temperance circles. Mr. White- 
ley has always taken a decided stand in the 
matter of prohibition, and has done a great 
deal of useful work in that connection. His 
wife established her millinery and notion 
store in 1887, and carries a full line of goods 
in those branches, and has the patronage of 
the best class of trade in the countv. 



» 



ISOMER R. EDDY, one of the thor- 
oughgoing farmers of Horton town- 
ship, Stevens county, Minnesota, living on sec. 
tion 22, was born in i)e Kail) county', Illinois, 
December 7, 1852. His ]iarents were Rich- 
ard and Mary E. (Sanborn) Eddy, of New 
York. They immigratetl to Illinois at an 
early day — 184-i. From that State they 
moved to Olmsted county, jNIinnesota, where 
they remained twelve years on a farm. From 
there they went to Sauk Centre, then to 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



455 



Popo county, finally locating in Stevens 
county, at their ju'csont place. The father 
(lied inlSS4, at ^lorris, aged sixty-four years. 
He was a republican in politics, and followed 
fai'Miing for iiis livelihood, together with 
teaciiing school. He was educated in his 
native State, and taught school in all tiie 
various localities in which he lived. He was 
identilied closely witli tiie matters of his 
county, holding various offices, and helped 
organize the school district known as No. 20. 
The mother of our subject is still alive, aged 
fifty-nine }'ears. Their family of grown-up 
cliildren are — Homer R., Frank M., Volna 
H., Eugene, George, Bige and Lew. Two 
daugiiters, Lotta and Ellen, are now' deceased. 

Our subject finished his schooling in Pope 
county, ^Minnesota, at the age of twenty 
years. After leaving the school-room, he 
went to farm life, and has followed it ever 
since. He was married November 4, 1874, 
to Miss Clara Baily, daugiiter of AV. H. 
15aily, a farmer and mechanic. Mrs. Edd}' 
was educated in Pojic county also, and is 
now tiie mother of three children — Guy, Lee 
and Hazel, all living at home. 

Mr. Eddy is a republican in his political 
belief, and is now clerk of school district No. 
20, as well as chairman of the Board of Su- 
pervisors of Horton township — elected in 
1884. He is comfortably situated on his 
eigiity acre farm, on section 22, where he 
does a successful farming and stock-raising 
business. 



©AVID RANKIN, a respected citizen of 
tiie village of Hancock, is a native 
of New Brunswick, Canada, born December 
24, 1847, and is a son of David and Eliza- 
beth (Denzmore) Rankin. His parents were 
natives of lielfast, Ireland, but early in life 
tiiey came to America anil located near St. 
John's, New Brunswick, where tliey^ were 



married. The father was engaged in farm- 
ing and lumbering. In the father's family 
there were eleven children, as follows — 
James, William, Elizabeth, David, Jane, Max- 
well, Emeline and Adaline (twins), Ileni'y, 
Fred S. antl Susie. James, "William, Eliza- 
beth, David, Jane and Maxwell are mari-ied. 

David Rankin, our jiresent subject, spent 
his school (lays at St. Andrew's, New Bruns- 
wick, attending school until he was nineteen 
years of age. He then engaged for some 
time in farming and lumbering, and when 
twentj' years old he began learning the 
blacksmith's trade at St. Andrew's. He 
served an apprenticeship of four or five years, 
learning the business thoroughly, and has 
followed that calling ever since. In Janu- 
ary, 1875, he came to the United States and 
settled at Minneajiolis, Minnesota, where he 
worked at his trade for two years and a half. 
At the expiration of that time, in Ma}', 1877, 
he came to Stevens county, and opened a 
lilacksmith shop at Llancock, which he has 
since carried on. He is an excellent work- 
man, and as his is tiie only shoj) in the place 
he does a large business. 

]\Ir. Rankin was married on the lOtli of 
Januarj', 1874, to Miss Amanda Jane Ryno, 
a native of Nova Scotia, and a daughter of 
Lewis Ryno and wife. She is a lady of in- 
telligence, and has taken an active interest 
in church work, being a member of the P>ap- 
tist denomination. 



►^^ 



WV-'E. CLEMETSON, one of the most 



2^ prominent citizens of Stevens county, 
is a man of general utility, being a farmer, 
carpenter, surveyorand blacksmitli, and is a 
go(jd and practical man at all these various 
branches of trade. He is the son of Elmer 
and Anna (Anderson) Olson, natives of Nor- 
way. Tiie son was born March 28, ls35. 
He was well schooled, receiving a high 



456 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



scliool education, Ijesides oradiiatiiio: at an 
academy of surveying. He finished his 
schooling when about twent^'-eight years of 
age; he had, however, superintended his fath- 
ers farm and helped transact his business 
matters in the meantime. It seems that the 
father had loanetl money on a farm owned 
by the mother, and the same had to be fore- 
closed by the due process of law, after which 
the property fell into the hands of our sub- 
ject, and later he became the owner of his 
father's farm also. He worked the farm until 
18t)0. Among the unlucky business adven- 
tures he experienced was one of a saw mill 
and lumber business, in which he lost §8,000. 
It was brouijlit ai)out bv a long- lefi-al figlit, 
in whicii the attorneys got the greater por- 
tion. In 1S69 he came to the United States, 
landing at Xew York, being eleven days on 
tiie ocean. Among the incidents connected 
with the voyage, was the fact that the 
steward fell overi:)oar(l, near New York liar- 
l)or antl was lost. Upon landing, our sub- 
ject came direct to Chicago, Illinois, where 
lie worked at the carpenter business for one 
month, and then came to Cokato, Wright 
county, Minnesota. He took a contract of 
grading four and a half miles of the St. 
J'aul & Pacfic Railway from DeGrafif & 
Company. The same year he made a pre- 
emption, on section 27, Cokato township, 
wiiich the railroad company contested, and 
tlie same is not yet settled. In 1875 he re- 
turned to his native land, returning the fol- 
lowing year. He came direct to liendsville 
townsliip, Stevens county. Minnesota, and 
ran a blacksmith shop at Donnellj' for two 
years. He took a homestead of eigiity acres 
on section 20, IJendsville township. He 
has since bought sixty acres moi-e, which 
constitutes his present farm. 

Mr. Clemetson was married, August 12, 
1S77. in his liome township, toLouisaErickson, 
fi'om Cokato. They have had five children — 
Anna ]\Iarv, born June 17, 1878, now in 



school, and is ver\' efficient in both vocal and 
instrumental music; Louisa Othelia, born 
Decembei- 31, 1879; Carl Clemetson, born 
April 6, 1882; Clara Eegina, born May 3, 
1SS4; Amanda, born June 25, 1SS7, and died 
August 4, 1887, 

Our subject has been very active in set- 
tling various colonies in Minnesota, having 
organized and settled two in Stevens county. 
He has been chairman of the board of super- 
visors, justice of the peace and scliool director 
of district Xo. 7, Eoth he and his wife are 
acceptable members of the Lutheran Church. 
In politics he is independent in thought and 
vote. 



"*^"*i?4St^J^' '^♦■* 



^^UY VALENTINE, a highly respected 
\QjX farmer of section 4, Moore township, 
Stevens county, was born in the city of 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1867. He is a 
son of Albion and Florence (Bartlett) 
Valentine, natives of Somerset county, Maine. 
The family moved West, coming to Min- 
nesota, in 1853, remaining two years, then 
going back to their old home for a year's stay, 
and then returned to Minnesota. This time, 
the father engaged in tlie butcher business in 
Minneapolis, at 206^ Central Avenue — East 
Division — where he still lives. The family 
comprised five children — two sons and three 
daughters — Guy, Bern ice, Lee, May and 
Florence. Our subject spent his bo3'hood 
days in school at Minneapolis, besides one 
term at the military school at Faribault, 
Minnesota. He worked for his fatiier until 
he came to Stevens county, in 1SS7, locating 
on a place bought by his fatiier, in 1871, 
comprising 600 acres, upon which he 
carries on an extensive farming business, the 
breeding of fine stock being a special branch. 
He handles Norman and French Coach 
horses together with Poland-Chimf swine. 
He possesses one of tiie finest, best paying 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



457 



farms in Stevens county. Mr. Valentine 
belongs to tlie order of tiie Sons of Temper- 
ance, joining tlieni in 18S8 at Hancock. In 
politics he is a republican. lie lias the 
respect and good will of all who have ever 
formed his accpiaintance, and is recognized 
as one of the most capable business men in 
the southern part of the county. 



©LE C. HANSON, of the mercantile 
Hrm of Wells Brothers & Hanson, 
came to Stevens county in 18(19, and, for a 
time, was in the employ of DeGraff & Com- 
pany, railroad contractors. In 1871 he entereil 
the store of Wilkins & Wolff, and one year 
later the firm became Woltf & Wells. He 
remained witli this firm until 1878. In the 
latter year the business house of Ilelgeson 
& Hanson was established, with the subject 
of this sketch as junior partner, as general 
merchants in the village of Morris, and they 
carried on the business until March, 1887. 
In 1883 the lirm opened a branch store at 
Milnor, Dakota, and when the connection 
was dissolved, l\Ir. Ilelgeson took the latter 
stand, and ^Ii-. Hanson the store in j\Iorris. 
At the same time the old partnership was 
dissolveil, and the present fii'in was formed 
under the name and style of Wells Brothers 
& Hanson. 

Mr. Hanson has always taken an active 
interest in all county and village matters, and 
was elected one of the members of the coun- 
cil in 188G, and has served on the school 
lioanl two years. He is a member of the 
Jfasonic fraternity, having been made a Ma- 
son in (iolden Sheaf Lodge, No. 133, in 1879, 
and is the present Worshipful Ma.ster. He 
is also a memiier of Mt. Lebanon (^'hapter, 
No. 47. li. .\. M. : of liethel Commandery, 
No. 19, K. T. ; of Osman Temple. N. M. S . ; 
and of Jf orris Lodge, Xo. .").">, A. (). U. W. 

The sultject of this biography was born in 



Norway, March 31, 18.53, and remained in 
the land of his birth until he was sixteen 
j'ears old. At that age he immigrated to the 
United States, and came directly to Minne- 
sota. He made his home in Filhnore county 
one year, where he attended school, and then 
came to Stevens count}', as related above, and 
has brought about his present ])rosperity en- 
tirelj' by his own energy and business tact. 
Mr. Hanson was married, October 16, 
1879, to Miss Mary Olson, and by this union 
they are the parents of the following chil- 
dren — Abert, Oscar, Herbert J. and Minnie. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hanson are members of the 
Lutheran Church of Morris, and are zealous 
Christian people. 



-«- 



^^►^ 



#UST NEUDICK. The subject of this 
article is a prominent and thrifty 
"tiller of the soil " on section 10, in Pepper- 
ton township. He is a native of Germany, 
born August 8, 1849, and is a son of Guttip 
and Dorah Neudick, who are natives of the 
same Empire. 

Our subject remained in his native land 
until he was six j'ears of age, and at that age 
he came to the United States and settled in 
Minneapolis, ^linnesota. where he worked 
on a farm midway between the Twin Cities. 
His parents bought land in South Minneap- 
olis, where they are at ])resent residing. 
Gust remained with his father and mother 
until he was twenty-one years old, when he 
commenced the battle of life for himself. 
He bought a team and for the next eight 
years teamed in Minneapolis. He then 
moved to Stevens county, ]\Iinnesota, with 
team, and took a homestead of IfiO acres on 
his present location. He now has a fine farm 
of 166 acres, 100 acres under cultivation, 
and substantial building im]irovements. 

Mr. Neudick was married in Minneapolis, 
in 1873, to Miss Anna Depolder, a native of 



458 



STEVFXr. COU.VTY. A/I.VA'ESOTA. 



German}', who came to the United States 
when she \vas a small child. The}' have 
been blessed witli the following children — 
Fred, John and Ida, all of. whom are living 
and at home. Our subject is a man of the 
highest honor and integrit}^ and is highly 
esteemed by all who know him. 



ILLIAM RIORDAN, a progressive 
^^ farmer of section 5, Moore town- 
ship, Stevens county, is a native of Ireland, 
born ill f bounty Cork, October 17, 1852. His 
parents were Eugene and Marj' (Callahan) 
Riordan, of tlie same county in Ireland. 
The parents lived and died in the samecoun- 
tv in which tliey were boi-n. The father died 
in 186S and tlie mother in 1878. They were 
the parents of eleven children — seven sons 
and four daughters, all of whom grew to 
mature years, except one, who died at the age 
of two 3'ears. David died July 4, 1885. 
The living children are — Julia, now Mrs. 
Fitzgerald; Patrick, still in Ireland; Mary 
Ann, now Mrs. Galvin, a farmer's wife in 
Darnen township; Daniel, married a national 
school teaclier in his native counti'v; 
Honora, still unmarried and a Sister of 
Mercy, located at Queensland, Australia; 
Kate was formerly the same as her sister, 
init is now deceased; John, still single and a 
carpenter by trade, works at Morris, Stevens 
county, Minnesota; Eugene is attending col- 
lege in Michigan, on the borders of tiie 
lake. 

Our subject spent his scliooldays in County 
Coi'k, Ireland, coming to the United States 
in 1870. He came from New York City to 
Minnea])olis, ^Minnesota, and worked for a 
term of two years, attending school part of 
the winter seasons. He then went to Marj^- 
land, where he was emploj'ed in the coal and 
iron mining business for seven'years, and then 
came to Stevens county, Minnesota, locating 



in Moore towhship, where he has since lived. 
When he first came, he bought a quarter sec- 
tion of land and homesteaded the same 
amount — making a half section tract in all. 
He now has 240 acres in Moore township, 
160 acres in Hodges and 160 acres in Ilorton 
townshipSjbesides property in Maryland, con- 
sisting of houses and lots. 

He was married in 1879, to Miss Kate 
Joice, a native of Minneapolis, she being the 
daughter of John and Mary Joice, farmers, 
living at present in Douglas count\', Min- 
nesota, Mrs. Riordan being the oldest of a 
family of fourteen children. She was ed- 
ucated at thecity of Minneapolis, and beloiigs 
to tlie Roman Catholic Church, as does her 
husband, who also belongs to the Ancient 
Order of Hibernians and to the Catholic 
Total Abstinence Society of America, at 
Morris, Minnesota. In his politics, he is a 
staunch democrat and a strong man in his 
chosen party. Mr. and Mrs. Riordan have a 
home blessed by the presence of one daugh- 
ter and four sons — Eugene, Mary, John, 
Josejih and William. 



foHN O. AASUMB, a prominent farmer of 
the town of Donnelly, was born in Nor- 
way, February 25, 1820. Fle was reared in 
his native land, and on attaining his majoritj' 
adoi)ted farming as an avocation. He re- 
mained there until 1871, when, leaving his 
family in tiieold home, he sailed for the JSTew 
World, to see if in this portion of the earth 
tiiere was not a lietter lot for him and his 
than in his native land. On arriving in the 
United States he came at once to Minnesota, 
where he had a brother living, and after 
passing the winter with that relative, went to 
work on railroad construction, at which he 
was employed for three years. Returning 
to the old country he soon brought the fam- 
ily to this land, and the next spring, built a 



S;TF.I'/:xS COaiVTY. Mlh-NESOTA. 



450 



house oi\ liis homestead on section 2, Don- 
nelly towiisiiip. where he now lives. He has 
ICO acres in his farm, sixty-live of which are 
under cultivation, and is well stocked with a 
fair trrade of domestic cattle and horses. 
He lost part of his first crop on this farm by 
the gi-assiioppers, and a ])ai-t of another 
hy iiail. l)Ut lias generally met with an 
abundant success. 

Mr. Aasumb was united in marriage, in 
1S53, with Miss Anna Swanson, and by this 
union there have been born a family of six 
children — Ole, Severt, Andrew, Gunerius, 
ifary and Anna. Ole is married and lives 
at Whitewater, Wisconsin. Severt, also 
married, lives in tlie same ])lace, both being 
engaged in tailoring. Andrew (4. eame to 
this county with his parents, and has 
made his home here ever since. The lirst 
live years he worked for others, but turned 
his wages over to his father to hclj) make 
the improvements on the farm, like a dutiful 
son, and is now general manager of the old 
homestead, and carries on all the business 
pertaining to the place, leaving his fiither to 
enjoy iiis ease wlien he sees fit. 

The family are zealous members of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and earnest 
workers for the advancement of the cause of 
religion. The father and son are prohibi- 
tionists in their political creed. 



•-4- 



..<j- 



^S^ UGENE ATWOOD, the proprietor of 
v(S3^ the liver\', sale and feed stable, at 
Moi-ris. is a native of Darlington, La Fayette 
county, Wisconsin, and was buin October 
22, 1S58. His parents, Charles and Eliza 
(Smithj At wood, the foianer a native of 
Vermont, and the latter of England, were 
among the earlier settlei-s of La Fayette 
county, and thei-e the father of our subject 
was enjraKed in farming and the raising of 



horses. In 1868 the family removed to 
Hastings, Minnesota, and tiiere the father 
ran the Mississippi House for several years. 
From there he removed to Cannon Falls, 
(Toodhue countv, and was there eno-affed in 
the hotel and liveiy business until 188-1, 
when he came to Mori-is. Here the father 
died, March 30, 1888. The mother is living 
in the village with her son Eugene. 

The subject of this personal history com- 
menced life for himself at the age of sixteen 
years, and has always been in the livery 
business, or dealing in Iiorses. Various 
places, in this State have been the scene of his 
labors, and he finally came to ilorris in 
July, 1883. In September, 1884, he opened 
the stable in the village, where he has since 
carried on business, and is enjoying a good 
share of the public patronage. He is a 
thorough horseman, and a successful and 
capable business num. 

On the 1st of January, 1886, Mr. Atwood 
was united in marriage with Miss Addie 
Stenson, of Stevens county. 



-«« 



fDHN W. W. POLSON, of Hancock, is 
proprietor of the ilerchants' hotel, and 
is one of the leading business men in the vil- 
lage. He was born in Orange countj-, In- 
diana, August 13, 18-14, and is a son of Ben- 
jamin and Caroline (Graham) Poison, who 
were natives, respectively, of Kentucky and 
Indiana, having been married in the latter 
State in 1843. The ancestors of our sidjject, 
back several generations on his father's side, 
were natives of the Isle of Wales, while on 
the mother's side the early ancestry was of 
English origin. The grandfather of our sub- 
ject was John Poison, who, in early life was 
a slave driver in South Carolina, and later 
in life settled in Kentucky, where he engaged 
in farming. On the mother's side the grand- 



460 



STEVENS COU.VTY. M/.VA-ESOTA. 



father of our subject was William Graham, 
an extensive farmer in Pennsylvania, and 
later in Indiana. 

Benjamin Poison, the father of our pres- 
ent subject, was first married to a Miss King, 
by wliom he had a family of five children — 
MaiT, Ervin, Jane, George and Wesley. 
Mary and Wesley are deceased. The latter 
was in the army, and died of disease con- 
tracted in the ser\'ice. In 1843 the father 
was married to his second wife, Miss Caro- 
line Graham, and by this marriage they 
became the parents of ten children — John 
W. W., Willie, Walter T., Samuel, Benjamin, 
James, Allie, Minnie, Frank and Harry. 
AVillie, Samuel and Minnie are dead, and the 
rest are still living. Benjamin Poison had a 
bus}' and varied career. He began his busi- 
ness life traveling with a team and selling- 
goods, following this for two years. He 
then established a general merchandise store 
in Washington count}', Indiana, which he 
ran for five yeiirs, and then for fifteen years 
was engaged in the same line of trade in 
Paoli, Indiana. In 1856 he sold out and 
came to Le Sueur county, Minnesota. Later 
he engaged in the hotel business in St. Peter, 
but a j'ear later went back to Le Sueur 
county. He next went to St. Paul, where 
he was engaged in the ilry goods business 
from 1858 to 1860. In the latter year he 
went to Northfield. where he ran a general 
merchandise store until March, 1863, and 
lived in that place until the time of his death, 
in 1877. He was a man of the highest 
character as to integrit\', moralit}' and honor, 
and was held in high esteem by all with 
whom he came in contact. His widow still 
resides in Northfield, being now about sixty- 
seven years of age. 

John W. W. Poison, our present subject, 
came to Minnesota with bis parents, and is, 
therefore, a pioneer of the State. He re- 
ceived his education at St. Paul and North- 
field, linishino- his schoolino: at the latter 



place when about seventeen years of age. 
He then clerked in his father's store until 
early in 1863, when he enlisted in Company 
A, Independent Battalion Minnesota Cavalry. 
He served on the frontier in Minnesota and 
Dakota, and was finally mustered out, m 
June, 1S6G, at Fort Snelling. After his dis- 
charge, he went to Northfield, and a siiort 
time later he went to St. Paul, where he 
was engaged as agent for stage and railwav 
lines. During a portion of 1867 he was a 
clerk in the Sawyer House, at Stillwater, 
Minnesota, and in September of this year 
was married. He then re-hired to the stage 
company, and became their local agent at 
Mankato. In the spring of 1868 he rented 
a farm in Ramsey county (which is now a 
part of the city of St. Paul), and tilled it for 
two 3'ears, after which he returned to North- 
field, where he was engaged in the hop 
business for one season. At the expiration 
of that time he returned to Mankato, and 
remained there until 1871, and then engaged 
in farming in Blue Earth county. One 3'ear 
later he moved to Watonwan county, and 
lived there until the spring of 1875. At 
that time, as the grasshoppers destroyed the 
crops, he was forced to abandon his ])lace, 
and, at the time mentioned, he went to Lake 
Crystal, where he hired to II. C. Howai'd to 
carry on a farm. Times were ver\' hard, and 
his wages were only §15 per month. He 
remained, however, dm-ing one season, and 
then went to Mankato, where he was en- 
gaged in the machine business for the same 
party, also carrying on the business of an 
auctioneer. He was then foreman for the 
Occidental Livery and 'Bus Line for a year, 
and tlien again resumed the machine busi- 
ness. In 1882 he removed to Minneapolis, 
and became an expert for the Minneapolis 
Harvester Works, and for that firm traveled 
through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, 
Missouri and Illinois. In September, 18S2, 
he hired to John C. Wai-ner as an auctioneer, 



STEVENS COil.VTY, MINNESOTA. 



4'il 



iiiul remained witU liim until 1885, after 
wiiicii. for a time, he traveled as an auction- 
eer. IIo tluMi came to Benson, Swift county, 
Minnesota, and took ciiarge of a farm for 
AVilcox & "Wilcox. A year later lie came to 
kStevens county, and for one year ran a dairy 
farm in tlie town of Hodges. At tlie ex- 
])irati()n of tiiat time, in Marcii, 1888, lie 
came to Hancock, and took charge of tlie 
Merchant's Hotel, the leading hotel of the 
place, and still has charge of that house. 
He is a good hotel man, and his house gives 
excellent satisfaction to its patrons. 

Mr. Poison was married on the 3rd of 
September, 1807, to Miss Percilla Leddick, 
a native of Addison county, Vermont, and a 
daughter of Josejjh Leddick. ^Ir. and ^Irs. 
Poison are the parents of four living chil- 
dren — Harry S., P>ert O., Minnie and John 
C, besides one child that died in infancy. 

Mr. Poison has always taken an active 
interest in public affairs, and is now street 
commissioner of the village. He is a repub- 
lican in political matters, and has always 
taken iin active interest in the campaigns of 
that part}', and was a delegate to the last 
congressional convention. He is a member 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is 
adjutant of his post ; and is also a member 
of the Sons of Temperance. 



DWIN LEE, one of the most highly re- 
spected citizens of Baker township, 
is a resident of section 18. He was born in 
Jefferson county. New York, ilay 15, 18-10, 
and is a son of John and Alice (Wisley) Lee. 
His parents are now both deceased, the 
mother having been killed in a cyclone at 
Madison, Dakota Territory, in 1884. The 
jiarents had a family of twelve children — 
William, Laura, Henry, Charles, Pobert, 
Edwin, George, Mary, Delburt, Betsey, 



Frank and Libbie C, William is married 
and lives in iladison, Dakota Territory, and 
is sheriff of the countv in which he lives- 
Laura is married to John AVillcox and lives 
in Chicago, Illinois; Henry, married and is a 
resident of Dakota; Robert is living in Aladi- 
son, Dakota Territor\- ; George, Delburt anil 
Frank are now residents of Oregon ; ilary 
is the wife of Mr. Hungerfert, living in Chi- 
cago, Hlinois; Betsey is the wife of John 
Walker, and resides in Madison, Dakota Ter. 
ritory; Charles and Libbie are decea.sed. 
William was dispatch carrier during the war, 
and government scout for one year in the 
Black Hills. 

Edwin Lee, whose name heads this article, 
remained at home, attending school, until he 
was eighteen years of age, at which time he 
went at work on a steam-boat, after which he 
engaged in the pineries for Jones & AVelling- 
ton, for whom he worked for about lifteen 
years. During this time he also engaged to 
some extent in farming, worked on a log 
drive and in various other occupations. Af- 
ter relinquishing his engagement with Jones 
ifc Wellington he came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, and filed on a homestead of 
160 acres on section IS, in Baker town- 
ship. In connection with his farming 
he carries on the blacksmithing trade, hav- 
ing an establishment of this description on 
his place. Although he has met with the 
misfortune of being burned out twice, he 
has persevered, and now has a good, well- 
improved farm on which he carries on a 
successful farming and st(jck-raising lousiness. 

Mr. Lee was married in Oshkosli, Wis- 
consin, July 21, 1870, to Miss Kate McCabe, 
daughter of John and Ellen (Conghlin) Mc- 
Cabe, natives of Ireland. By tiiis union, the 
following children have been l^orn to them — 
Ellen K.. born .May 14, 1871. died August 
26, 1872: John E.. born .March 10, 1873; 
James F., born July 5, 1875 ; Anna ^L.i)orn 
May 7, 1878; William H., born July 27, 



462 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



188:^; Josepli C. born September 1, 1884, 
and Edwin A., born A|iril 1.3, 1887. 

Mr. Lee has moved to Graceville for tlie 
winter of 1888 in order to give liis children 
the educational advantages afforded at that 
place. He is one of the public spirited men 
of the township, and has held the offices of 
supervisor one term, and school treasurer 
for three \-ears. In political matters he is 
au adherent to the principles of the repub- 
lican party. 



^M ^NTON E. ANDERSON, the marshal ot 
'll^\. the village of Morris, came to Stevens 
county in February, 1876, and bought a 
claim to 160 acres of land, in the town of 
Framnas. He rented a farm that season and 
a yoke of oxen, and sowed some ninet}' acres, 
but the grasshoppers took nearly the entire 
crop. The same year he broke up about 
fifty acres of land on his own farm and the 
next season tilled its soil. In the spring of 
1877 the house he was living in was de- 
stroyed by fire, and he lost everything, except 
the clothes he and his family' had on. He 
then removed to the village of Morris. The 
grasshoppers took his crop that season also, 
and being in bad shape, financially, he and 
his wife went to work for eight months at 
$20 per month. In the spring of 1878 
he built a house on his farm, and had a 
good cro]) that year. In the fall following, 
he entered the emplo\' of the Minneapolis 
Lumber Company, and had charge of their 
yard at Morris, until 1882, during which 
time he also carried on his farm. In the 
latter year the yard was sold to C. AV. Rohne, 
and our subject remained with him. The 
next year the proprietcn- of the yard entered 
into the banking inisiness, and Mr. Anderson 
took charge of the lumber business as a 
working partner, and continued in that line 



until the summer of 1884, when he returned 
to his farm; where he lived until the fall of 
1887, at Avhicli time he came back to Morris, 
where he has since remained. 

In 1880, Mr. Anderson was a]ipointed 
deputy sheriff, and held the office for four 
years, and was re-appointed to the same po- 
sition in 1886, and still holds that office, and 
in the spring of 1888 was appointed village 
marshal. 

The subject of this sketch was born in 
Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, September 
15, 1852, and is the son of Oleand Ellen An- 
derson, both of whom were natives of Nor- 
way, who had settled in Wisconsin in 18-1:6. 
He is the eldest in a family of eight children, 
and was reared upon his father's farm. At 
the age of sixteen he went to the pineries 
of Michigan, and worked one winter, and, in 
the fall of 1868, commenced to learn the 
blacksmith's trade, at which he worked some 
five or six years. He was two years with 
the Champion Machine Company, and then 
came to Minnesota, and settled in this county, 
as has been stated. 

Mr. Anderson was married, December 25, 
1884, to Miss Christine Nelson, and by this 
union there have been born four children — 
Edna, George, Cora and Ida. 

The subject of our jiersonal history is a 
member of the Fire Department of the 
village; of Morris Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. 
W. ; of Scott Legion, Select Knights and of 
the Odd Fellows' organization. lie and his 
wife are members of the Lutheran Church, 
and in his political views he is a republican. 



MLeNRY HODGMAN, the present man- 
J^A. ager of the Hood farm, is a native of 
Pierce count}', Wisconsin, where he was 
born, December 4, 1858. Five years later, in 
1863, his people moved to Red Wing, Minne- 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



463 



sota, where his father worked in a flouring 
mill, remaining there until tlie time of his 
death. July 14, 1S77. 

Henry remained at liome with the family, 
until nineteen years of age, when he came to 
this (Stevens) county, for the purpose of 
opening up a farm, which his father had pur- 
chased previous to his death. He success- 
fully operated this place, until the autumn 
of 1SS7, when he was called to takecliarge of 
tiie Hood farm. He is looked upon as one 
of the most successful farmers as well as 
business managers in the county. 

Mr. Hodgman was married to MissKegina 
Schulz. of Stevens county, in April, 1887. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Hodgnum have the re- 
spect of a wide circle of friends. 

The Hood farm, on section 7, of Darnen, 
was opened in the spring of 1877 by Hood 
tfe Hoyt, of Eed Wing. As grain farmers 
they carried on a successful business for 
seven years. E. H. Hood then become pro- 
prietor, and has run the place as a stock 
fai-m, breeding and dealing in the fines>t 
blooded cattle and hor.ses. The farm con- 
sists of 640 acres. 320 of which are cultivated. 
There are numerous tine buildings upon the 
place. Xo better man could have been 
cliosen as the manager of tiiis farm than ]\Ir. 
Hodgman. 



J^ATRICK SPAIN, a well-known and 
J^ substantial farmer of the southern 
part of Stevens countv, is a resident of 
section 6, Horton township. He was born 
in May, 1822, in Ireland, and is the son of 
Patrick and Bi'idgett S[)aiii, of Ireland. Tiun' 
came to the United States when our subject 
was only six years of age, landing at Boston, 
and lived at Manciiester, New Hampshire, 
for fifteen yeai-s. They then removed to 
Dakota count}^ Minnesota. There the 



fatiier purchased land upon which he is still 
living, at the advanced age of ninety years- 
He lias followed farm life ever since a boy. 
His wife died at St. Paul, Minnesota, 
August 15, 1876, being about sixt}^ years old 
at tiie date of her death. Tiie family were 
all members of the Eoman Catiiolic Church. 
There were three children — two sons and 
one daughter — Patrick, ]\Iichael and Brid- 
gett. 

Patrick, our subject, received Ins schooling 
in New Hampshire, quitting at the age of 
fifteen years, when he went to work in a 
cotton factory, continuing for about twelve 
years, tiien came West with his parents, in 
the year 1855, since which time he has 
farmed. He came to Stevens county in 
1878, during tiie month of May. and home- 
steaded a quarter of section 6, whei'e he now 
lives. 

We will now retrace our sketch, in order 
to record a very important era in our subject's 
life. January 9, 1862, he enlisted under 
Captain Bingham, in the Second Minnesota 
Cavalry. His service was mainly in the 
West, including the Black Hills and Yellow 
Stone Eiver expeditions, where he was on a 
six months' expedition, and took part in a 
o-ood manv encounters with the Indians. He 
was finally discharged for disability at Fort 
Snelling Hospital, whereupon he returned 
to Dakota county. He was married in April, 
1868, to Miss Ann Burke, a native of 
Ireland, she being one of a family of two 
sons and two daughters, all of wIhuu came 
to this country. The parents are l)()lli AcmX. 
Our subject and his wife were nuii'ried at 
St. Paul, by Bishop Ireland, of the Ronum 
Catholic Church, to whicii they belong. 
Tiiev are the parents of two children — 
William and Anna, both hving at home with 
their parents. 

In his political belief Mr. Spain is a lirm 
believer in the democratic party and its 
principles. 



464 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



RANK A. ZAHL, deputy sheriff of 
Stevens county, also operates a livery 
and sale stable in the village of Morris. He 
is a native of German}', born December ?>, 
1856, and is the son of Otto and Minnie 
Zahl. llis father died when our subject was 
but five yeai's old and he lost his mother 
when he was about thirteen. After the lat- 
ter event he went to live with an older sister, 
but one year later they sold out their prop- 
ei'ty in the fathei-land and immigrated to 
America. With them came an older bi-other, 
and the three started with the intention of 
joining two other brothers, then living in 
Stevens county. The sister Avas taken sick 
'on their ai'rival in this country, and was left 
in the East while the l)oys came to St. Paul, 
and were there found l)y their brother, to 
wiioin they had written. Frank A. i-emained 
in the latter city until joined Ijy iiis sister, 
and tiien came to this county, where he 
remained lor three \'ears, working on various 
farms in the summers, and trapping in the 
^vinter months. During the excitement in 
regard to the Black Hills, in the spring of 
1S76, he started for that region. On his 
arrival at Bismarck, he heard of the hard 
times in the diggings and went up the Mis- 
souri Kiver, where he Wiis engag-ed in cutting: 
cord wood for the steamboat company for a 
month, after which he \A'as employed in 
teaming for the Government, from Fort 
Buford to Fort Custer, a distance of some 
200 miles, and remained in that business for 
a year. He and his bi'otlier then went to 
P^ort Keogh near Miles City, Montana., and 
started a wood-yard on the Yellowstone 
river, to supply the steamboats. In the win- 
ter they hunted the buffalo for their hitles, 
and they have killed :is high as a hundred in 
a day. This mode of life they followed for 
five years, making a large amount of monev. 
After the Xoi'thern Pacific Railroad came 
through that pai't of the counliy, the 
brothers started a saloon and hotel at the 



mouth of the Powder Horn River, and con- 
tinued in that business for a yeai", and then 
put up a good building and built a ferry 
boat. The town did not turn out as was 
expected, and the brothers lost all they 
had made in six 3' ears. The boys then dis- 
solved jiartnership and Frank took the 
team, all that the}' Lad left, and went to 
hauling rock for the railroad com])any,which 
business he followed for six months. He 
then, in company with Samuel Hilburn, 
opened a small store at Terry, but a year 
later sold out to his partner and engaged in 
stock-i-aising on a ranch he founded. For 
four years he gave his attention to that bus- 
iness, and then was ai)pointed deputj' sheriff 
of Custer county, ]\[ontana, and served in 
that ca])acity for three j'ears, arresting some 
of the most desperate characters of that law- 
less region in the discharge of his duty. 
From there he removed to AVilliston, Dakota, 
soon returned to Montana, and there bought 
a carload of horses and brought them to 
Morris, and after disposing of a part of 
them, opened the livery stable that he is 
now running. In the spring of 1888 Mr. 
Zahl was appointed to the office of deputy 
sheriff, which he fills at the present writing. 
He is a member of the Odd Fellows' frater- 
nity, and is one of the most highly respected 
citizens of the village. 

The subject of this sketch was united in 
marriage December 25, 1882, with Miss Car- 
rie Rattele, of Centralia, Wisconsin. 

Mr. Zahl relates many varied and inter- 
esting anecdotes and reminiscences of his 
long sta\' in the wilds of ]\[ontana and Yel- 
lowstone River region. One mornin"' he went 
out to get the horses.and thoughtlessly lefthis 
gun at the camji, as there were no indica- 
tions that Indians were near. On his way 
he picked up a long club, to protect himself 
from rattlesnakes, which were very numer- 
ous in that country. When within about 
300 vards of the horses, five mounted In- 



STEVEiVS COUNTY, MIXA'ESOTA. 



465 



dians suddenly apjWcared, and one, with i-ifle 
ready, started for liini, wliilo the rest made 
for the horses. Mr. Zahl started to iim, hut 
as the mounted Indian rapidly gained on 
him, he saw tiiat Might was out of tlie ques- 
tion, and accordingly he crouched behind a 
large sage bush. Tlie Indian a))))roached 
until he leveled his stick over the top of the 
bush, and the redskin, thinking it was a ritle. 
speedily pi'otected himself with the horse in 
the well-known Indian fashion. The other 
Indians, in the mean time having secured the 
horses, all live nuule off together. Jlr. Zahl 
then hastened to the camp to warn and ncjtify 
his companions, but as they had no horses, 
pursuit was useless. 



lUSTlN BERKIN, of thevillageof Morris, 
was born in Norway, June -i, 1860, and 
when twelve years of age was brouglit to 
the United States. The relatives with whom 
he came settled in Sauk Center, Stearns 
county, Minnesota, and there he lived until 
1S80, when he came to Stevens county. 
When he was fourteen 3-ears of age he was 
thrown upon his own resources, and for a 
time was em])loyed at whatever he could 
find to do, attending school through the 
winter months. When he was about eight- 
eeu years of age he went into the cattle 
business, shipping Xortli and West. One 
year later he located in Morris, and opened 
a saloon, which he has been running ever 
since. In 1883 he opened another place of 
tiie same kind in Milbank, Dakota, which lie 
carried on until January, 1888, and then 
closed out the stock antl rented the building, 
which belongs to him. About the same 
time he purchased a farm of 100 acres in tiie 
town (jf Framnas which he is carrying on at 
the ])resent time. 

Mr. Berkin was united in nuirriage, Aug- 
ust 3, 1887, to Miss Ida L. Olson, of Swift 



county. He is a member of the ^lorris Loan 
and Building Association, and of the Morris 
Fire Department, and is one of the most 
popular citizens in the ]ilac(^ 

The first building jjut up by Wv. lierkiu in 
Milbank was a two-stor^'- frame edifice, with 
an oi)era house in the second story, which 
was well littetl up with sceneiy, etc., and a 
fine saloon and Ijilliard hall on the STonnd 
fiooi'. This was destroyed by fire, Novem- 
ber 17, 1884, with a loss of over $7,000 on 
which he had but $2,750 insurance. The 
following spring, in connection with the 
Merchant's Bank of that place, he erected a 
fine brick building, at a cost of $4,000, which 
he still owns. He is, in the truest sense, the 
architect of his own fortune, and owes his 
present prosperous condition to his own in- 
dustry and diligence, lie stands high in the 
estimation of the peojile of the community, 
and is one of the foremost, public-sjnritiid 
citizens of the village. 



-^^ 



fOHN P. BACKIUS, a prominent old set- 
tler and eneigetic farmer of the town 
of Framnas, residing on section 4, first saw 
the light of day in the kingdom of Sweden, 
August 19, 1841, and is the son of Peter and 
Anna (Johnson) Backius, both of whom were 
natives of that counti-y. lie ])assed his 
younger daj's in the land of his birth, and 
attended the schools provided for the youth 
of that kingdom. On attaining his manhood, 
like many of his countrymen, he cast his 
eyes toward America, where the chances 
and possibilities of life were so much greater 
than in Sweden, and in July, 1SC5, he crossed 
the ocean to the United States and landed 
at New York. From that port he came to 
Minnesota, and was employed at farm labor 
in Wabasha county, for fourteen months. 
In Henry count}', Illinois, he then spent 
about nine months on a farm, and then re- 



466 



STF.VEXS COUXTV, MIXXESOTA. 



turned to Wabasha county, this State, and 
there made his home until October, 1869, 
when he came to Stevens countj- and took 
up, under the homestead and tree claim act. 
the 200 acre farm where he now lives. All 
the improvements upon his place were made 
by himself, and are of an excellent character. 

Mr. Backius was united in marriage in 
1874, with Miss Liza Larson, who died in 
1876. In November, 1877, he married Miss 
Betsey Buckman, who is the mother of one 
son — "Willie A. 

In his political views Mr. Backius favors 
the republican party, and usually casts his 
ballot for the candidates of that organiza- 
tion. Being of an eminenth^ domestic dis- 
position he has but little aspiration for public 
office, preferring to give his undivided atten- 
tion to his large farm, and enjoy the un- 
mingled joys of his own fireside. lie is a 
leader in the counsels and opinions of his 
neighborljood and one of the representative 
men of the town and county. 



^MrNE ERICKSON, a highly respected 
'J^>^^ farmer of Eendsville township, 
Stevens county, living on section 32, is a na- 
tive of Norway, whicii country hasfurnisiied 
many of the sturdy farmers of this section 
of Minnesota. He is the son of Erick and 
Martha (Anderson) Erickson. He was l)orn 
in October 1852, and I'eceived the ordinary 
schooling given in the land of his nativity. 
He worked on his father's farm until he was 
eighteen years of age. He then, thinking, 
from all he could learn, that the United 
States was a better country for a poor man 
than Norway, he crossed the ocean in 1871. 
landing in New York after a four weeks' 
passage. He came direct to Beloit, Wiscon- 
sin, except a week spent in Chicago. From 
Beloit he went to Clinton Junction, where 



he engaged to work on a farm, working for 
about six months. After this ex])erience 
he came to Morris, Minnesota : there he 
worked one year on the I'ailway ti'ack as a 
common laborer. The next work was for a 
wood contractor at Fort Sisseton, among the 
Indians; he remained there live months. He 
spent the following winter at Morris and 
again went to work on the railway, which, 
together with farming, he followed six 
years. In 1879 he took up a homestead of 
eighty acres, and since has bought eighty 
acres more. On this quarter section he has 
lived until the present time, making for him- 
self one of the finest homes in the township. 
In the autunm of 1886 he made a trip to his 
native country — Norway — returning the next 
March. 

Mr. Erickson was married May 30, 1875, 
to Miss Ida Anderson, of Eendsville town- 
ship,but who had recently come from Sweden. 
This union has been blessed by the birth 
of six children — Emma Matilda, Emil Al- 
bert, Anna Mary, Olof, George and Clara 
Amanda. 

In his politics our subject is a republican, 
believing, as do most of his countrymen, that 
this party best subserves the interest of the 
masses of our people. He is the present 
township treasurer of Eendsville township, 
ever manifesting an interest in the public 
ffood of the county in which he lives. He 
belono-s to the Lutheran Church, and has 
the ffood will of all with whom he associates. 
By dint of industry and frugality he has 
gained for himself a line farm home. 



l^RANK WAHLDIECK, one of the lead- 
IP^ ino; farmers of Stevens county, is a 
resident of section 4, Morris townsiiip. lie 
was born in Germany, December '7, 1831. 
His parents were Frank and Whelmenia 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



467 



(Biletz) Waliklieck, also of German birth. 
Frank left his native country, in 1853, coming 
to America, lie remained a month in New 
York City after lie lantled. lie worked as 
a railroad hand, and also in a brick j^ard for 
a short time. Finally, he found more lucra- 
tive employment as a cigar maker, at which 
he worked for about seven months. From 
that jjosition he went to South Carolina to 
aid in the building of a railroad, then in 
course of construction. Soon after, however, 
he was employed in a copper mine in Tonnes- 
see, at which place he remained and worked 
for two years, and from that State went to 
Alaijama, where he found the same sort of 
work. His next location was in Kashville, 
Tennessee, where he followed cigar making 
aofain for about a vear long-er. The next 
year was spent at St. Louis. November IS, 
1858, he enlisted in the regular army for the 
term of five years, receiving bis honorable 
discharge from that service, in the autumn of 
1803. He came out a cripple, caused by four 
gunshot wounds. He next took employ- 
ment in the Government stables, as a night 
watchman at Washington, District of Col- 
umi)ia, where he remained a year, and 
from that point went to St. Louis and 
again resumeil the rule of cigar maker, which 
calling he followed a year. February 6, 1866, 
he fell in with his old regiment at Jeffer- 
son Barracks and remained with them three 
yejirs, and was then discharged, February 
6. 1SG9, and received the appointment of 
post trader in Dakota Territory, which place 
he held two years, then came to his present 
place. 

Mr. Waliklieck was nuiri-ied to Sophia 
Knupple, February 20, 1869, by whom four 
children were born — Kate, Augusta (de- 
ceased). Bertha and Herman. The mother 
died. :\Iay 31, 1886. 

rolitically, our subject is an independent 
voter. lie has had a life full of changes of 
location, as well as occupation, but has finally 



secm-ed for himself a comfortable home, has 
a good improved farm of 160 acres, and is 
looked upon as one of the most reliable and 
substantial farmers in the northern [)art of 
the countv. 



|[^AENNIS MURPHY, whose fine farm 
'Sf home may be found on section 3(J, 
Horton township, in Stevens county, Minne- 
sota, is a native of Ireland, born in the 
Count}' Cork. His parents were Jeremiah 
and Ellen (Murphy) Murphy. The father 
was a laboring man, and died in his native 
land. The mother came to Canada in later 
years, and died at her son's, in 1869. They 
belonged to the Eoman Catholic Church. 
Their chiklren were — John, Dennis, Ellen 
and Mary. Two are in the United States 
and two in Canada. 

Our subject came to America in 1849, land- 
ing at the city of Quebec, Canada, remained 
there until 1861, then came to the United 
States, stopping in Michigan eight j'ears, en- 
gaged at raining. From there he went to 
Duluth, Minnesota, where he followed rail- 
roading for eight years. From the last 
named point he came to Stevens county, tak 
ing up a homestead of 160 acres, on section 
30, as before described. He has since added 
another quarter section, making a half sec- 
tion in all. He does a large farming and 
e:raded stock-raising- business. 

Mr. Murphy obtained his education in Ire- 
land, leaving school when only twelve years 
of age, after which he was compelled to la- 
bor by the day and month, until he came to 
this counti'v. 

Mr. ilurph\' was married in May, 1855, to 
Miss Honora Murph}-, a native of County 
Kerry, Ireland, coming to America with her 
people. She married Mr. ^lurphy at Strat- 
ford, Canada. Her father died in his native 
place, but her mother died in Minnesota. 



46S 



STEVRNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Our subject's fainil}' comprises the follo\y- 
ing twelve children — Ellen, Maggie, Mary 
Ann, Kittie, Alice, Emma, Eosa, John, Pat- 
rick, Michael, James and William. All are 
still unmarried, and three are away from 
home. The family are all believers in the 
faith of the Roman Catholic Church. He 
belongs to the Sons of Temperance, at 
Morris, Minnesota. 

Politically Mr. Murphy is a democrat. 
He has been township supervisor since 1885, 
and was elected to the office of clerk of 
scliool district No. 41, in 1887. 



-««i 



George w. maughan, d. v. s., the 

well-known veterinary sui'geon of 
Morris, is a native of Yorkshire, England, 
and was born July 29, 1819. He was reared 
in the land of his birth, and at the age of 
eighteen, having a natural taste that wa}^, 
he commenced to study for liis present pro- 
fession. He is a graduate of the College of 
Veterinary Surgeons, of Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, and thoroughly qualified in his chosen 
profession. After finishing his studies at 
that celebraj;ed institute of learning he 
opened an office in his old home and prac- 
ticed there for some time. Immigrating to 
America, he located in London, Canada, and 
there followed his profession for about eight- 
een months, after which he removed to Brad- 
ford county, Pennsylvania, in which place 
he spent seven or eight years engaged in at 
tending to the ills of the equine race. In 1879 
the Doctor came to Stevens county, and, loca- 
■ting in the villageof Morris, commenced prac- 
tice there, and has continued to make that his 
residence ever since. 

The subject of our sketch has taken a 
great interest in all town and village matters, 
and in the spring of 1888 was elected a mem- 
ber of the council, and is serving in that 
body at the present writing. Pie is a mem- 



ber of Morris Lodge, No. 55, A. O. U. "W.; 
of Scott Legion, No. 13, Select Knights; and 
of Crystal Lodge, No. 132, I. O. O. F. The 
Doctor is devoted to his profession, and has 
the best librarv in that line in the western 
part of the State, if not in the entire State. 

Dr. Maughan was married November 6, 
1881, to Miss Emma Frisby, and they are 
the parents of one child — Ernest. Mrs. 
Maughan is a daughter of Phillip and Lena 
(Stutz) Frisby. 



WILLIAM HENRY HILAND, one of 
the go-ahead farmers of Stevens 
county, living on section G, of IVfoore town- 
ship, is a native of Ireland, born in County 
Kilkeney, in December, 1822. He is the son 
of Catharine (Kennedy) Hiland. Tiie father 
died when William Henry was a mere in- 
fant, and he knows but very little concern- 
ing his history. His mother married again 
in the city of Dublin, Ireland, and she died 
in Brooklyn, New York, about 1871. Our 
subject has a half brother in Dulilin, who 
follows ship-carpentering. Mr. Hiland came 
to this country early, and was in Wisconsin 
before it was admitted into the ITnion as a 
State. He there lived with an uncle until he 
was thirty yeai's old. He spent the time at 
work and going to the common schools in 
Rock county of that State, until he was about 
twenty-one ^-ears of age. He succeeded in 
gaining a good common education, of the 
practical sort. He remained in Wisconsin 
until 1855, then came to Winnebago count}^ 
Minnesota, where he remained for about 
nine years, following farming for the most 
part of the time. 

He was married in 1856, to Miss Catharine 
Ryan, born in Ireland. They were married 
in Rockford, Illinois, living there seven years 
in a hotel and eating-house, then came, as 
once stated, to Minnesota, and from that 



sr/tP'/iAS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



■\<-") 



State removed to St. Croix, "Wisconsin, near 
Stillwater. There they lived for six or seven 
yeais on a farm. They again made a move, 
this time going to the county in which we 
now find our subject living. Here he took 
a homestead of 1<!0 acres, also a tree claim of 
the same size, the former situated on section 
G, and the latter on section :'>2, ITodges town- 
ship, where he has since carried on success- 
ful farming, both in grain and stock.growing. 

Our sul)ject and his estimable wife are 
blessed with five boj's ami one girl — Rfary 
A., now Mrs. William Jackman, of Dakota; 
William 11., married and living in Stillwater, 
^Minnesota; John E., singleand living at Hud- 
son, Wisconsin; Lucius E., single and living 
at St. Paul, Minnesota; George G. and James 
¥., who are still at home with their jiarents. 

In his political belief, Mr. Hihind is a dem- 
ocrat. He belongs to the Roman Catholic 
Church. He was elected to the office of 
townsiiip assessor, in ]SS7, and is a leading 
and representative man of l\roore township. 



— «-; 



-^^ 



[OHN C. CAMPBELL, the present lessee 
(»f the Minnesota Agricultuial Com- 
pany's farm, on sections, Darneii township, 
is by birth a Canadian, born at Ontario, 
January 18, 1848. His parents were Donald 
and Jenett (Cameron) Campbell, both na- 
tives of Scotland. They came to Canada, 
when J'oung — long before marriage. After 
their union ihey settled in Wellington county, 
Ontario, where the father died in 1SC9. 

John C. remained with the family until 
after his father's death and then moved to 
^finneapolis, Minnesota, where he was man- 
ager of the W. S. King farm, near the city of 
Minneapolis, for two years, and then engaged 
with Farnsworth «fc Newcotnb and came to 
Hancock, Stevens county, to take chai-ge of 
their extensive stock-fann. After one year 



with them he leased a 1,300-acre farm, in 
llorton township, which lie operated four 
years, and then leased tin; i[innesota Agri- 
cultural Company's farm, consisting of four 
sections, which he still has control of. He 
is extensively engaged in Short-horn stock- 
raising, and also cultivates 1,200 acres of 
land. This is one of the finest stock and 
grain farms in all the great and gi-owing 
Northwest, having an abundance of pure 
water, excellent pastui'age and all that goes 
toward making up a successful fai'm. 

Mr. Campbell is a member of the Stevens 
County Agricultural Society. In 1887 he 
drew thirty-two prizes, for full-blood and 
grade Short-horn cattle and draft horses, at 
the September fair. 

Like all men of good judgment he chose 
him one of the best of wives, a Miss Jane 
Donivan, to whom he was married in 1875. 
Mrs. Campbell was also fi'om Ontario. They 
have one child to brighten their home circle — 
Daniel J. 



•«-J€5^-*-^ 



WILLIAM WUNSCH, of the village of 
Morris, is one of the old settlers of 
Stevens county, coming here on the -Ith 
of July, 1870. He walked to this point on 
that day from Benson, and the next day 
jmrchased the old Job Smith place, now oc- 
cupied by Lewis Perkins, in the town of 
Morris. At that time there were but six 
families living west of the Pomme de Terre 
Piver. On the 2ith of October he settled 
on his farm, and remained there until the 
fall of 1876, when he disposed of it, and, re- 
nmving to the village, opened the saloon 
which he had bought the previous April, and 
where he has since carried on business. In 
1878 he purchased the Joseph Koe farm, anil 
since then has bought other land, so that h(> 
now owns a fine place of 270 acres adjoin- 



470 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



ino; the village, which he carries on also. In 
Februar}' he Ijought the fc^tanton residence, 
one of the finest in the village, and is rated 
as one of the most prosperous and substantial 
citizens of the place. 

Mr. Wunsch is a native of Germany, and 
■ was born October 6, 184rO. At the age of thir- 
teen vears he came to the United States with 
relatives, but since his fourteenth year has 
depended entirely on his ow^n resources and 
taken care of himself. On the 17th of Octo- 
ber, ISt'iO, he enlisted in the United States 
Marine Corps, and served on board of vari- 
ous vessels in the North Atlantic and West 
India fleets. He was on board of the " Ro- 
anoke" at Hampton Roads, at the time of 
tiie naval duel between the Monitor andMer- 
riniac, at the bombardment of Charleston, 
South Carolina, and one of the crew of the 
gunboat " Nepsic,'' at Fort Wagner. After 
receiving his dischai'ge from the naval serv- 
ice he enlisted in the United States Vete- 
ran Reserve Volunteer Corps, under General 
W. S. Hancock ; was made sergeant, and 
served one year, being discharged at Fort 
Snelling, in February, 1866. Having a taste 
for army life he i-e-enlisted in the Thirty- 
first United States Infantiy, and served with 
that regiment for three 3'ears, during which 
time that and the Twenty-second Infantry 
were consolidated under the latter number. 
After a service at Forts Buford and Steven- 
son, he was finally discharged in February, 
1870, and in the following July came to 
Stevens county. 

Mr. Wunsch was united in marriage, Janu- 
ary 25,1866, with Miss Mary Ryley, while he 
was a member of Hancock's A'eteran Corps, 
and by this union is the parent of seven cliil- 
dren — Albert, Mary, Laura, William, Charles, 
Bertha and Edmund. 

Mr. Wunsch has most excellent buildings 
on his farm, and a line grove of trees that 
covers about four acres. It is one of the best 
places in the county. 



fDHN J. CARNEY, who is carrying on a 
meat market at Morris, is a native of 
Upper Canada, born at Renfrew, Renfrew 
county, January 29, 1864, and is a son of 
James and Judith Carney. His father, James 
Carney, was a native of Ireland, where his 
(James') parents still live. James Carney 
went to Scotland when he was onl}' ten 
years of age, and was educated there under 
a priest's supervision. When he was about 
twenty years of age he came to America, and 
for some time worked in various portions of 
Canada, finally settling in Renfrew county, 
where he was married and remained for 
about twenty j'ears. His wife (John's moth- 
er) was born in that county, and died there 
when thirty-eight years of age. Her people 
were natives of Ireland, but immigrated to 
Canada at an early day, and were among the 
earliest settlers of Renfrew county. They 
cleared a valuable farm of over 200 acres 
there and made excellent improvements. 
James Carney continued his residence in Can- 
adauntil 1879, when became with his family 
to the United States, and to Morris, Minne- 
sota, where the father of our subject opened a 
boot and shoe shop. At the same time be 
bought a farm in Big Stone county, on 
which the family resided. He carried on 
the business here until the spring of 1888, 
when he i-emoved to liis farm, where he 
now lives. 

John J. Carney, whose name heads this 
article, remained with his parents until he 
had attained the age of fifteen 3'ears, and 
then started out to earn his own living and 
to battle on his own account. He was first 
employed at various occupations in the vil- 
lage of Morris, but in the spring of 1881 
commenced work in a butcher shoji, and was 
engaged as an assistant in that business for 
six 3'ears. In June, 1887, he established his 
present stand, and has carried it on ever 
since, with excellent success. His close 
attention to the wants of his patrons, and 



STEVEXS COUNTY, iV/iVNESOT.-l. 



AT- 



liis accommodating mannei's have won him 
hosts of friends, and he is enjoying a large 
and ever increasing trade. 

ilr. Carney was united in marriage, Octo- 
ber 12. 1SS(). witli ]\[iss Eosie Kopitzky, a 
native of Lalce county, Indiana, and the 
daughter of Jolin Kopitzlvy ami wife, natives 
of Germany. 

Mr. Cai-ney is a member of INforris Divi- 
sion, No. 1, Ancient Order Hibernians, and 
an active worker in the order. 



Iffil^ILLlAM L. COLYER, court commis- 



M-M- sioncT of Stevens County, and booic- 
keeper for Joim T). Good, the hardware 
dealer of ]\Iorris, is a native of Waukcsiia 
county, Wisconsin, and was born July 8, 
1845. His parents, Lambert and Martha 
(Cunningiiam) Colyer, were born in the State 
of New York, and came to Wisconsin in 1840, 
and lived in Milwaukee until 1842, when 
they removed to the place in Waukesha 
county taken up when they first came to 
the Territory. While in Milwaukee, Mr. 
Lambert Colyer was engaged in hauling 
supplies to the Mineral Point lead mines, 
and hauling ore back to the lake. For 
thirty-eight years, the latter resided on his 
farm, tmt is now living in retirement in the 
village of Eagle, in tiie same county, where 
his wife died in 1881. 

The suliject of this memoir was the second 
in a family of eight children, and was reai-ed 
on the parental farm, and there remained 
until August, 1804, when he enlisted in Com- 
jiany A, Twenty-eighth AVisconsin Infantry, 
and wi\s transferred to the command of Gen- 
eral Steele, at Little liock, Arkansas, where 
he sjjent the winter. lie was with the ex- 
pedition under that officer, that endeavored 
to draw the rebel forces from the ill-fated 
lied River ex])edition,and was overwhelmed 
and driven back to the capital of Arkansas. 



In January, 1865, the regiment to which he 
belonged was transferred to New Orleans, and 
placed in the Thirteenth Army Corps, under 
General Gordon S. Granger, and proceeded 
to Mobile Bay. They arrived before Spanish 
Fort and Fort Biakely on the 27th of March, 
and participated in the siege of those two 
places until their surrender, A])ril 9. and 
captured about 10,000 of the enemy after a 
severe contest. After this they marched 
through Mobih\ and met the enemy about 
five miles from that city. The command 
then marched some sixty miles up the Tom- 
bigbee River, and captured the rebel fleet, 
consisting of the ram Morjj-an, twentv-one 
transports and two blockade runners. Re- 
turning to Mobile on board of the steamer 
Sumter, Mr. Colyer confiscated a razor and 
strop, and has kept tiiem as relics of war 
times to this day. He reached Mobile on 
the 10th of May, where the regiment went 
into camp. On the 31st of the same month 
they were ordered to Brazos, Santiago, Texas, 
on the Mexican frontier, where they arrived 
on the steamer Continental, June 10, 1865. 
Fi'oni there they marched to Clai'ksville, on 
the Rio Grande, and there went into camp. 
July 21, they were removed to Brownsville, 
and in the latter part of August were 
ordered home, and were taken on transports 
to New Orleans, and then by steamboats up 
tlie river. Mr. Colyer was dischai'ged Sep- 
tember 15, 1865, and went to Pierce county, 
Wisconsin, where he taught school that win- 
; ter. After spending some time at home, the 
following summer he went to Marshalltown, 
Iowa, where he was with an uncle in the 
lumber business. In the fall of the same 
year, he removed *to Clinton, Iowa, ant! en- 
tered the employ of Chauncey Lamb it Son, 
lumber and flour dealers, but was taken sick 
in l)ece7nl)er, and was removed to his old 
home by his fatiier. In the spring of 1867. 
he went to Pierce county, and worked on a 
farm, but that winter taught the same school 



472 



STEVEA'S COUiVTV, MEXNESOTA. 



that he had taught two years previous. He 
then bought a farm, and was occupied in 
running that and in teaching until 1871, 
when he engaged in the mercantile and grain 
trade. This latter business he carried on for 
live years, and in the winter of 1875-76, 
went to England to settle an estate. In 1879, 
retiring from the business he was engaged 
in, he came to Morris, and filed a soldier's 
homestead on a part of section 20, of tiie 
town of Darnen, which he still owns. lie 
moved his family to the farm, in October of 
that year, and they remained there until 
1885, wljen they came to Morris. July 1, 
1870, ilr. Colyer entered the emjjloy of J. 
U. Good, and has been with him ever since. 
He is one of the most capable business men 
ill the village, and is highl}- esteemed as an 
exemplary citizen. 

Mr. Colyer was married, Feljruary 3, 1868, 
to Miss Rebecca L. Reive, one of his pupils, 
and the\' are the parents of five children — 
Martha L. (now Mrs. George Maughan), 
William L., Rebecca F., Mary B. and Robert 
G. Our subject is a member of Golden 
Slieaf Lodge, No. 133, A.. F. and A. M.; Mt. 
Lebanon Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M.; Bethel 
Cominandery, No. 19, and Overton Post, 
No. 99, Grand Army of the Republic. 



2|OHN S. JUDD, a higidy respected farmer, 
^ who lives oil section 14, Morris town- 
siiip, Stevens county, was born Aue-ust 29, 
1837, at Pier Point, St. Lawrence county. 
New York. He is a son of iliciiael I), anil 
Bilence T. (Leonard) Judd, natives of the 
same State. John went to school and worked 
on tlie farm, as most farmer boys have done, 
until he reached the age of twenty-one j^ears. 
He then farmed himself untd he enlisted, 
August 25, 1864, in Company A, Fiftieth 
New York Engineer Corps, serving until 
July 1, 1865. At the close of the war he en- 



gaged in farming again, following the same 
until 1872, when he homesteaded the place 
he now occupies. It is a quarter section, 
and is all well subdued and improved. His 
whole farm, however, is 320 acres, a part 
added since. 

Mr. Judtl was married to Harriett E. 
Towner, December 24, 1859. Their chil- 
dren, six in number, are — Ilattie L. (de- 
ceased). Converse C. (deceased), Retta M., 
Arthui' J., George W.,and Clarence R. The 
family are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

In politics ilr. Judd is a republican. He 
has a fine farm, and his improvements reflect 
much credit upon his enterprise and thrift. 
He is regarded as one of the most successful 
and substantial farmers and stock-raisers of 
the township. 



-?►► 



-«" 



/^HARLES GRASSMAN, a respected and 
^^^ prominent farmer of Stevens county, 
is a resident of section 22, Synnes township. 
He was born in Prussia, April 6, 1847. His 
parents, from good old German stock, were 
named AYilliam and Wilhemena (Grosmick) 
Grassman. The mother died, aged seventy- 
two years, in 1886. The family came to 
America in 1873, living at Stillwater, Min- 
nesota, and from there went to Red AVing, 
remaining six years at the latter named 
place. From there he came to Stevens 
county, where he took a quarter section of 
land, and I'emained on the same for ten 
vears. The family comjirised five children — 
Augusta, Charles, Gustaf, Albert and 
Anna. One is deceased. 

Our subject, Charles, spent his school days, 
which are truly the best of any boy's life, at 
Grifenberg, Germany. He left school at the 
age of fourteen years, after which he learned 
the shoemakers trade, at which he woi'kcd 
more or less, until eleven years ago. In 



ST/-:VF,\'S COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



473 



1807 he enlisted in the German Army, 
serving four years during tlie Franco-Prus- 
sian War. lie came to^this country in 1S72, 
landing in July, at New York City, having 
been two weeks on the ocean. After a few 
days' stay in New York, he came to St. 
Paul, Minnesota, and lived with his father's 
family, at Red Wing and Stillwater, working 
at his trade some of the time, lie finally 
came to his present location, in Stevens 
county, lie now owns a half section of land, 
on sections 22 and 27 of Synnos townsiiip, 
and is an extensive, successful farmer and 
livo-stock raiser and dealer. He built the 
second iiouse in iiislownsliip, and was among 
tlie pioneer hand, who first tilled the soil 
of these wild i)rairies. 

^[r. Grassman was united in marriage in 
July, 1871, to Miss Willremena Kreger, 
native of Germany, and the daughter of a 
large shi])per. She came to America alone. 
They have two children — Louisa and Emma, 
both at home at this writing. Mr. Grass- 
man is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, and in his political creed is a lirm 
believer in tiie theory that this country must 
soon come to practice placing gooil men 
in power, regardless of party lines. Our 
subject is independent in all he does, lie 
has taken a deep interest in local matters 
connecteil witli his township and county, and 
has iield the office of justice of the i)eace. 
He may justly be said to be a man of more 
than common impoi'tance and sti-engtii in 
his public and private life and chai'acter, 
both as a neighbor and an exemjilary citizen. 



JTOHN C. O'BRYAN. the proprietor of the 
^ Farmers" Hotel, Mori'is. was born in the 
city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 
27, 18-12. When he was but two years of 
age his parents renioveil to Ai-mstrong 
county, in the SHue State, and settled on a 



farm, where our subject was reared until he 
was sixteen years of age, when he com- 
menced life for himself. He went to Frank- 
lin, Venango county, in his native State, and 
was employed in a machine shop there until 
Jul_y, 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, 
Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served 
with that regiment untd July 1, 1865. He 
participated in all of tiie engagements in 
front of Richmond, and in the Shenandoah 
Valley. In the battle of the Peninsula 
campaign, Antietam, South Mountain, Frede- 
ricksburg, ('edar Ci'eek, Gettysbui-g, Peters- 
burg and Aj)})omatox, he was present and did 
his duty. Receiving his discharge at Lynch- 
burg, he went to Reynoldsville, Pennsylva- 
nia, where he went to woik in a saw mill, 
but in the following year moved to Minne- 
sota and located at Cannon Falls, (toodhue 
count}'. There he engaged in farming for a 
year, after which he I'emoved to Rochestei', 
this State, and a year later to Winona. 
Two years he spent in the last named city, 
and then went to Hudson, Wisconsin, and 
there was engaged at the carjjenter's 
trade until the fall of 1878, when he came 
to Stevens county. He located in the village 
of Morris and ran a dray for two years, 
and then moved to a claim that he 
had taken in the town of Stevens, and there 
engaged in farming. 

After living on the place for two years lie 
took up a homestead in the same township, 
and there made his resi<ience until in Decem- 
ber, 1885, when his hou.se and buihlings were 
destroyed by lire. He then took a tree 
claim in the same township, on which he put 
up a residence and lived until the spring of 
1888, when he came to the village and took 
charire of the Farmei-s' Hotel, of which he is 
still proprietor. 

In the spring of 1881 he circulated the 
petition for the organization of the town of 
Stevens, and, being elected tiie fii-st chair- 
man of the board of supervisors, held that 



474 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



office for three years and that of justice of 
the peace two years. He was the first clerli 
of the school district, and one of the most 
active citizens in the organization of the 
district. He has two fine farms of 160 
acres eacli, both of which he has leased. 

Mr. O'Bryan was married, April 14, 18G3, 
■while home on a furlough, to Miss Nancy 
Smith, who died while they were living 
in Hudson, leaving three children — EfRe, 
Clara and Frank. He was united in mar- 
riage the second time, December 5, 1880, 
with Miss Nellie Mouchau, and by this 
union there are.thi-ee children — Bertie, Lizzie 
and Annie. He is a member of Overton 
Post, No. 99, Grand Army of the Republic, 
and is the chaplain of that body. 



>MIaN1BAL HAMLIN ELLSWORTH, one 
J/*^ of Stevens countv's thoroufrha-oino- 
farmers, living on section 28 of Rendsville 
township, is a native of Salem, Franklin 
county, Maine, and was born July 24, 1849. 
His parents were Jeremiah D. and Martha 
N. Ellsworth, who were farmers in Maine. 
They gave their son a good common school 
education, and also two terms in the Hitrh 
School at Strong, Maine. After our subject 
was about twelve years old he worked on 
his father's farm in Maine until the fall of 
1865, when the family came West, settling 
at Waterloo, Iowa. They remained in the 
town the first winter. The father owned a 
section of land in that neighborhood, and he 
built a house and improved tlie land. Our 
subject remained tliere until June, 1873. and 
then pusiied out for himself, going to lltica, 
Winona county, Minnesota, where he worked 
for three seasons. In the fall of 1875. he 
came to Stevens county, Minnesota, and took 
a homestead of eighty acres on section 28, 
Keiulsville township. He then returned to 
Iowa via Winona county, Minnesota, and on 



March 20, 1876, he was married to Julia 
Anna Henson, daughter of WilUam and 
Matilda (Ayres) Henson, of Apple Eiver, Illi- 
nois. She was born December 10, 1852. Her 
father died when she was a mere child. 

After our subject married he returned to 
Stevens countv, renting a farm near Morris, 
settling on his homestead finally, and there 
still remains, the possessor of a fine home. 
He has since added to his farm, now having 
a quarter section of choice land, all in the 
same section. 

Two children bless the home circle of our 
subject and his wife. They are both in school 
now — Jessie May, born May 1, 1877, and 
George William,' March 12. 188L Mr. Ells- 
worth is a public-spirited man, having been 
supervisor and chairman of the board most 
of the time since residing in Rendsville town- 
ship, lie also takes deep interest in school 
matters, and has served as one of the direct- 
ors. He belongs to the Free Will Baptist 
Church, and is a strong prohibitionist. 



^SjIi^IMOTHY MURPHY, manager of the 
MI lumber yard of John D. Good, at 
T.Iorris, is a native of County Cork, Ireland, 
and was born August 15, 1843. At the age 
of twenty years he came to America in 
search of the fortune denied him in the op- 
pressed land of his birth, and landing at the 
city of Boston, Massachusetts, was employed 
there for some nine years. He first came to 
Minnesota for the purpose of visiting his 
brother, but, being favoral)ly impressed with 
the country, he decided to make tiiis his fu- 
ture home. This was in 1873. He took up 
a tree claim of 160 acres in the town of 
Darnen, but remained in the village of Mor- 
ris. In 1878 he entered the employ of Mr. 
Good, and has been witii him ever since. In 
1887 he took charge of the lumber yard be- 
longing to that gentleman, and is in that 



sT/:r/:xs county, Minnesota. 



475 



position at the present wi-iting. He still 
owns the farm in Darnen town, and has some 
sixt3'-five acres improved, and has planted 
seventeen acres with lo,oOO trees. 

Up to 1882 Mr. ]\[iiri)liy made his home 
with his brother, who owns a farm adjoining- 
his, and when the school district was organ- 
ized, in 1878, he taught the first term in that 
part of the county. lie has been one of the 
board of education for many years, and was 
the town treasurer of Darnen until his re- 
moval to Morris, some three or four yeai-s 
ao'o. He is the owner of a beautiful home 
in the village, and is prospering in a finan- 
cial sense, as he deserves. He is a membei' 
of ilorris Division, 2so. 1, A. O. II., of 
which he has been treasurer for three years, 
and is now the recording secretary. 

November 1, 1882, Mr. Murphy and Miss 
Annie Feeley were united in the bonds of 
marriage, and by this union there have been 
born fourchihlren — Mary J., Daniel P., An- 
nie and i\Iargaret. The family are exemp- 
lary members of the Catholic Church. 

In pi)litical matters, Mr. Murphy affiliates 
with the democratic party. He is a capable 
and thorough business man, and is highly 
esteemed as an exemplary citizen. 



l^lg^ACHLAN R. Macintosh, a prosper- 
&^ ousand well-to-do farmer residing on 
section 28, Eldorado township, is a native of 
Scotland. He was born in the county of 
Banff, Scotland, October 17, 1855, and is 
the son of .Eneas and Isabclle (McPherson) 
Macintosh, both of whom were also natives 
of Scotland. Tiie father was game-keeper 
in one of the many large districts set apart 
for the pastime of hunting that are to be 
found in that country. 

Our subject remained at home, going to 
school until he was fourteen years old, when 
he went to Elgin and Glasgow, where he was 



engaged in an office for some time, and then 
was the attendant of a wealthy jjcrsonage 
for three years. He then came to the 
United States and settled in St. Paul, Min- 
nesota, where he worked fortwo\'ears in the 
St. Paul Harvester "Works. In tlie spring 
of 1878 he moved to Stevens county, ilinne- 
sota, and took a homestead of IGO acres 
on section 28, Eldorado township, where he 
has remained ever since. lie also took a 
tree claim on the same section, but not hav- 
ing very good success with the trees, he per- 
suaded his beti'othed, Jliss Jessie Hose, to fde 
on the claim as a homestead. She is the daugh- 
ter of Dougald and ^largaret (Calder)I{ose, 
who were natives of Scotland, and was boin 
May 28, 1858. Her parents are living in Scot- 
land. She came to the United States in 
1881, and came to Herman, Minnesota, and 
commenced teaching school, and has taught 
more or less ever since. 

Miss Rose was married to our subject Jidy 
11, 1884. They are exemplary members of 
the Methodist Church. Mr. ^laclntosh is a 
man of the utmost integrity and honor. He 
has always taken an active interest in all 
]iublic matters, and has held the offices of 
justice of the peace, town clerk, school treas- 
urer and school clerk. In [)olitical mattci's 
he is a Prohibitionist, both in precept and 
practice. 



7^\ ARK RINGROSE forms the special 
^^\jLraL. subject of this sketch. He is one 
of the many highly intelligent and very suc- 
cessful farmers of Stevens county who have 
come to a new country and made for them- 
selves beautiful and valuable homes. His 
place IS situated on section 24, of Hodges 
township, and is mdeed a credit to its owner. 
By birth our subject is an Englishman, 
born in famous old Yorkshire, of that coun- 
try, August 12, 184G. His parents were 



476 



STEVFNS COl/.VTY, MINNESOTA. 



William and Esther (Ward) Ring-rose. The 
father and mother were also natives of Eng- 
land. Tliey were married in Englantl and 
came to tids country in 1S52. They settled 
in Oneida county, New York, where they 
engaged in farming. They lived there the 
remainder of theii' davs. TJiev belonired to 
the Episcopal Cliurch, and were exemplary 
Cliristians. They reared a family of eight 
cliildi'en — five sons and tiiree daughters, 
named as follows — Thomas, Christopher, 
William, Mathew. Hannah, Mark, Esther 
and Christine. 

Mark, of whom this sketch treats, attend- 
ed the schools of Oneida county, New York, 
until he attained the age of twenty years ; 
graduating from an academic course, at that 
age. From his studies at the academj^, he 
en<>af;ed in farm life for a time. His next 
move in life was to eng-age in the lumbering 
business in ]\Iille Lacs, Minnesota, where lie 
remained eight years and then removed to 
Stevens county, where he now resides. At 
first, he took a tree claim of IGO acres, to 
which he has since added eighty acres, mak- 
ing him a farm containing 240 acres, upon 
which he does general farm and stock-raising 
Inisiness. He handles fine and graded stock, 
and lias been very successful in this special 
branch of his labor. 

December 26, 1875, marked another im- 
portant era in his history, for it was that date, 
he married Miss E. C. Taylor, a native of 
New Brunswick, the daughter of George W. 
Taylor, a farmer. She was the second child 
in her jiarents' family, and was educated in 
Minnesota. This worthy couple have been 
blessed with four intelligent children — Amy 
Maud, Roy Edgar, Cora Alice, and William 
Niel. They are all alive and still at home — 
the oldest being eleven years of age. 

Mr. Ringrose is a republican in politics, 
however, of tlie independent kind. He has 
been lionored by the election to numerous 
offices, including tliat of township supervisor, 



assessor and kindred positions. He is a wor- 
thy and acceptable bi'other in the IMasonic 
fraternity, and is one of tliose even-tempered 
men, with whom it is a pleasure to become 
associated in either a social or business capac- 
ity. 



PEDER O. THORSTAD, the su])ject of 
this biography , is a pi'ominent and 
successful agriculturist of Swan Lake town- 
ship, residing on section 32. He is a native 
of Norway, born in Hedemaker, Norwa}', 
on tlie 5th of April, 1835, and is the son of 
Ole and Anna (Peterson) Thorstad, who are 
also natives of that land. The mother died 
wlien Peder was but six years old. Peder 
remained at home, going to school in winter 
and working on the home farm in his vaca- 
tions, until he was tw'enty years of age. He 
then commenced contracting and !)uilding, 
which occupation he followed for a period of 
ten years. In 1SC5 he came to America, 
and, after a, stormy voyage of seven weeks 
and two tlays, lie landed in Quebec, Canada, 
moving direct to Vernon county, Wisconsin, 
where he built a wagon shop, and engaged 
in the wagon-making trade for the next six 
years. He then sold out, and for the next 
twelve months his attention was taken up 
with the mercantile business, cai'rying a full 
line of groceries, etc. In 1872 he moved to 
Stevens county, and after a month's sojoui'n 
at Johnson's Mill, in June, 1872, he took a 
homestead and tree claim of 80 acres each 
in Swan Lake township, on section 32. 
Later he changed his tree claim to an addition 
homestead, and has since made his residence 
there. He now has one of the best improved 
farms in his township, and the finest resi- 
dence dwelling in his section of country. 
His farm comprises 280 acres. 

Mr. Tiiorstad was married in June, 1862, 
to Miss Christine O. Hokness, daughter of 



STEVFNS COUMTY, MINNESOTA. 



477 



Ole and Martha Ilokness. This union has 
been l)lesse(l witli tlie following children — 
Ole and Olaus (twins), Menna. Betsey, Albert 
(deceasedX Clara (deceased). Clara (deceased), 
Albert, Mary and Matilda. Our subject is a 
man of the utmost integrity and honor, 
highly esteemed by all wiio know him, and 
identifies himself witii all public or educa- 
tionnl iii()V(>ments wlierel)y his town or 
county may be benefited. In political mat- 
ters lie is an adherent to the principles of the 
repulilican party. lie has held numerous 
offices in his township, including supervisor 
for eight years, township treasurer, and 
sciiool treasurer. 

lie and his family are exemplary members 
of the Lutheran Church. 



i^pHARLES W. BROWN, a ])rominent and 
^^^ leading farmer of tiie town of Potsdam, 
living on section 34, was born in Blackbrook, 
Clinton county, New York, July 10, 1851, 
and is a son of Daniel C. and Lucy A. (Woolf) 
Brown, natives of that part of the " Empire 
State." During the late Civil "War the father 
of our subject enlisted in Company B, One- 
Ihmdred-and-Eighteenth Kew York In- 
fantry, in 1863. He participated in several 
engagements and was taken jirisonor by the 
rebels on the 1st of September, 1804. lie 
was sent, like so nuiny of our soldiers, to the 
horril)le ])rison-pen at Andei-sonville, and 
aftei' enduring liardslii])s and ])rivations un- 
do) a l)''utal governor and a ruthless guard, 
without slielt(M-or suHicient food, often with- 
out water, in filth and dii-t, he laid down his 
life, another sacrifice on tJie altar of his 
country. His widow nuirried a second time 
and came to Minnesota, and settled in Todd 
county. 

The sui)ject of this sketch, Charles "W. 
Brown, was a resident of his native State 
until 1S70, when he, also, immigrated to this 



State and located in Todd county, wiiere he 
was employed in teaming until 1882. In the 
latter year he removed to Dakota and en- 
gaged in breaking the prairie sod for one 
summer, after which he went to Minneapolis, 
where he followed teaming until 1885. In 
the last named year he came to Stevens 
county and rented the farm where he now 
lives, and which he bought in 1887. He 
owns a nice place of 160 acres, and is a model 
farmer in neatness and industry. 

Mr. Brown was united in marriage. July 
15, 1875, with Miss Kate E. Werner, and by 
this union thej^ are the parents of five chil- 
dren — Lewis L., Lucy A., Eva E.. Josephine 
and Walter C, all of whom are living ex- 
cept Josephine, who died August 7, 1884. 

In his politics our subject is a democrat, 
and is a leadmg citizen of the community in 
which he lives. 



TIjg^EWIS H. STANTON, who lives on " Oak 
1^^ Grove Farm," on section 22, Morris 
township, Stevens county, was born January 
12, 1860, at Washington, District of Colum- 
bia. He is a son of Hon. Edwin M. Stan- 
ton, who was Presitlent Lincoln's Secretary 
of War, in the days of our rebellion. His 
mother was Ellen H. (Hutchinson) Stanton, 
wiiose parents were from Kentucky. She 
was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Lewis 
H. spent the most of his time in school, 
up to 1878, leaving Princeton College in 
his sophomore year. He came to the 
Northwest for the benefit of his health, 
and went back and forth several times 
before he settled. He intended to edu- 
cate iiimself for a lawyer, but was compelled 
to abandon the thought of a i)rofession, be- 
cause of frail health. In 1881 he built in 
Morris, and became one of the firm of D. II. 
Sutherland & Company, whicji connection he 
held until 1884. During 1882 he started the 



47S 



STEl'EA'S COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



improvement of 600 acres of land, now 
" Oak Grove farm," and moved to the same in 
188"), wliere he lias made his home since. lie 
is extensively engaged in stock-raising. 

Ml'. Stanton was married to Adele C. 
Townsend. of New Orleans, April 19, 1881. 
His wife's parents were natives of New 
York. Tlieir home is blessed by the pres- 
ence of three children — Edwin M. (named 
after his grandfather), Cora V. and Gid- 
eon T. 

In his political belief Mr. Stanton is a re- 
publican. It is liardiy necessary to add a 
word concerning the ciiaracter of our sub- 
ject, after iiaving first introduced him as a 
S071 of so distinguished a man as Edwin M. 
Stanton. 



'^Ajj|-HOMAS C. COLAHAN, the proprietor 
X of the St. Paul House, in the village of 
Morris, is a native of Ireland, born about the 
year 1836. He lived in the land of his birtji 
until lie was ten or eleven v'ears of age, and 
then came with his parents to the United 
States, landing at tlie port of New York. 
After remaining in that city for a short 
time tlie family moved to Pottsville, 
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, whei-e 
Tiionuis grew to numhood. He ad()])ted the 
business of coal mining, for that is the main 
trade in that ]iart of the country, and fol- 
lowed it until April, 1861, when, in reponse 
to the Hrst call for troops to suppress the 
rebellion, he volunteered in Company G, 
Sixth Pennsylvaniii Infantry, for ninety 
days. With his regiment he went to Harris- 
burg, and tliere served out his time. He 
received his discharge on the 26th of July, 
and returned to Pottsville and his old 
employment. December 19, 1861, having 
seen no active service when in the army, lie 
re-enlisted in Company L, Fifth Penns^ylvania 
Artillery. They were ordered to Harris- 



burg and there remained some six months, 
after which they were quartered in Balti- 
more, Maryland, to keep down the rough 
element there. From there they were trans- 
ferred to Harper's Feri-y and the Shenan- 
doah Valley, and participated in several of 
the engagements in the latter. Our subject 
was taken prisoner at the battle of "Win- 
chester, June 30, 1863, and sent to the rebel 
prison pen at Belle Isle, near Kichmond, 
Virginia, and there kept for two months. 
At the end of that time he was sent 
to Indianapolis and exchanged and 
ordered to rejoin his i-egiment at Washing- 
ton. He, with that gallant body of men, 
were, shortly afterwards, transferred to the 
Shenandoah Valley, and there participated 
in many of the conflicts that swept over 
that jjortion of our country. Tliroughout all 
the closing scenes of the war he was with 
his regiment, and when the hostilities had 
ceased, was one of our country's defenders 
tliat took part in that might\' review at 
Washington, when hundreds of thousands of 
heroes marched in review before their com- 
mander and their grateful countrymen. 

On receiving his discharge in June, 1865, 
Mr. Colahan came West and ran a l^oarding 
house at Hudson, Wisconsin, for a time, and 
then bought a farm in the vicinity of that 
village in Erin Prairie township, St. Croix 
county, Wisconsin, where he carried on 
farming for eight years. In April, 1876, he 
sold out there and came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, and for a \'ear lived on a rented 
farm and had his crop destroyed b}' the 
grasshoppers. In 1877 he opened a saloon 
in the village of Morris, which he ran for 
about eighteen months, and then removed 
to his homestead, which he had filed upon 
the year previous. One year later he came 
to Morris and entered into his present busi- 
ness. 

Mr. Colahan was married at Pottsville, 
July 19, 185S, to Miss Mary Riley, and she 



sr£r£A'S COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



479 



was with bim while he was serving with the 
battery, and was taken a prisoner with him 
and lieid for several weeks. 15ut very few 
similar incidents occurred during the war. 
Our subject is an honored member of Over- 
ton Post. Xo. 09. Grand Army Tlepublic, and 
has held tiie office of junior vice-C(jmmaiider 
for a year. ]\Ir. ;ind Mrs. Colahan have 
been ])arents of tlie following cliiklren — 
Mary Ann, Thomas, Michael, Anna, Martin, 
^[icliael Joseph, Mar}', Ellen, Jolin Francis, 
James I'hillip and George. Mary Ann, 
^lichael, Michael Josepii, and Ellen are 
deceased. 

■HRISTIAN ZIMMERMAN, an e.K-lTnicm 
solilier and a survivor of that immoi'tal 
iind famous regiment — the First Minnesota — 
IS now a resident of section 34, "Reiulsville 
township, Stevens county. He is by birtli a 
German. He is the son of Philip and Eliza- 
beth (Penhardt) Zimmerman, born Septem- 
ber 11, 1839. He attended the common 
German schools, living in town. When six- 
teen years of age he came to America, 
landing at New "ifork harbor some time in 
1856, after a four weeks' voyage. He 
]iroceeded directly to lied AVing, Minne- 
sota, where he had a brother-in-law living. 
He worketl on his farm for two \'ears 
and then followed saw-mill work. On 
Ajiril 29. 18<;i, he enlisted in Company K. 
First ^'olunteer Infantry, under Captain 
Lester. 1 le served under the name of Samuel 
Smith, siiaring all the vicissitudes of the 
glorious old IMiiinesota First. Onlj' forty- 
seven nu'n came out of the battle of Gettys- 
burg, without l)eing hit b\' some shot oi- 
shell. After his lirst term of enlistment 
had expired, lie re-enlisted under his own 
true name and serveil during the remainder 
of the war. He was mustered out in Ken- 
tucky and discharged and paid olf at Fort 



Snelling, Minnesota. After his army serv- 
ice he worked in the saw-mills at Red Wing, 
Minnesota, until 1876. He was married 
April 21, 1867. to Katherine Roth, a native 
of Germany. In 1876, he moved to Stevens 
county, taking up the homestead he now 
lives upon. The first crop he raised was 
nearly all destroyed l)y grasshoppers, but he 
stuck to the farm and now is well situated. 
The family consists of eleven cliiklren — 
George, Christian, Philip (deceased), Matilda, 
Charles, AVilliam, Fi-ed, Penjnmin. Henry, 
Francis and Albert. 

Our subject and his family are Lutherans 
by religious belief, ;iiul lie is a rei)uijlican in 
politics. His army experience was full of 
thrilling adventures and ex])loits. He had 
his right thumb shot off, and also received a 
severe sabre cut from one of the jJlack Horse 
Cavalry, at the first battle of Bull Run. At 
another time he was cruslied, badly, between 
the wheels of an army train wagon. For 
many years he drew a pension of only two 
dollars per month, from the Government, 
but finally it has been increased to four 
dollars per month. 



-«-; 



«^^^ 



piCOB CHRISTIANSEN, farmer and 
liquor dealei-, of the village of Morris, 
was born in Christiania, Norway, January 1, 
1834. At the age of fifteen he started out 
in the world for himself, and with tiie inten- 
tion of making liis own fortune. He went 
to Denmark to work and remained tiiere 
two years, ijeingwith the English cnntraelor 
who built the railroad thri)Ugh Denmark, 
and with the engineers on the grade. Ro- 
turning to his native land, he spent a couple 
of years in putting up saw mill madnnery 
after which he shipped on board of a vessel 
as a sailor and followed a seafaring life for 
the next eight years. Several times he came 
to ports on our coast, and in 1861 he deter- 



48o 



stevfjvs coc.vrv. mjxnesota. 



mined to come to America, and on doing so 
settled at Milbm-n, Canada, where he hved 
one 3^ear, ami then removed to the United 
States. He was in Chicago for a short time, 
and then went to grading on the Northwest- 
ern Eailroad. After that he located in 
Waujmn, "Wisconsin, and followed lumbering 
for two years. Then, taking charge of a 
gang of men as foreman, he put up the tele- 
grapii line from Rochester to AVinona, in 
this State, and came to Minnesota, perma- 
nently, in the spring of 1865, locating in St. 
Paul. He woi'ked in the yard of the St. 
Paul vt Pacific Railroad Company as switch- 
man for one year, and in 1866 was a))[)ointed 
emigration agent by that corporation and 
served in that position until 1876. 

The subject of this memoir came to Mor- 
ris in 1876, and established a hnnber yard 
and a clothing store, and carried on these 
lines for about a 3'ear. In 1877 he opened a 
boarding house and saloon and for several 
years carried them on in conjunction, but 
finally gave up the boanling part. In 1879 
lie took up a tree claim in the town of Scott, 
wiiich he now cultivates, and in 1SS2 he pur- 
chased another farm in Framnas township, 
which he also manages. Both of these 
phices have good improvements and are ex- 
cellent farms. 

Mr. Christiansen wsis married in lh70 to 
l\[iss Raudena Jolinson Falk, a native of 
Helgoland, Norway, wlio came to tliis coun- 
trv in 1869. 



-■^-f^^-^- 



m 



IaENRY D. MOORE, who at the pre.sent 
tune iias charge of "Oak Gi'ove Stock 
Farm," in Moi-ris township, Stevens county, 
was Ijorn December 9, 1S51, at Si)ringfield, 
Massachusetts. His parents were Jei'omeD. 
antl Emily B. (Meadj Moore. At the age of 
four years, our subject, with his parents, left 
the place of his birth and moved to Potsdam 



village, St. Lawrence county, New York, 
where the\' lived on a farm about two miles 
from the village. In 1882 Henr\- D. Moore 
came to Morris, Minnesota, and worked with 
a threshing machine for a few weeks, and 
from there went to Holmes City and found 
employment in a saw mill. He remained 
there only a short time, and then took gen- 
eral charge of the Oak Grove Stock Farm. 
He owns S(»0 acres on section 2, Morris 
township. 

Mr. Moore was married, January 1, 1870 to 
Mar}' A. Hackett, b\' whom one child has 
been born — Nellie. Politically, Mr. Moore 
is a republican. He is a man of integrity, 
and stands well in the county. He has a 
fine property arouml him. 



"*■► 



..^^ 



AMES MILAN, who is now a farmer of 
^ section 9, Moore township, Stevens 
county, was born at Schrewsberry, A^er- 
mont, March 20, 1850. His parents were 
Martin and Bridgett (Hogan) Milan, natives 
of Ireland, who after their marriage came to 
this country, landing at Castle Garden, New 
York, some time in 1842. They lived in 
Vermont until 1855, then moved to Water- 
town, Wisconsin, where they remained for 
four years. They next went to Buffalo 
count\', of that State, and lived there for 
twenty-seven years. The father died at the 
last named place, August 1-1, 1885. The 
mother remained there two years, and then 
went to St. Paul, wliei-e she now lives, at the 
age of seventy-seven years. She is a devoted 
member of the Roman Catliolic Church. 
During his life, her husbaiui, father of our 
subject, followed farming and dealing in cat- 
tle, jobbing, etc. They reared a family of 
seven sons — John, Alexander, Martin, Wil- 
liam, Thomas, James and Lawrence. Tlie 
last named and his brother Mai'tin are now 
dead. Martin was a married man, and lived 



.S/7,;v;.\.s- COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



481 



at Buffalo, Wisconsin, where he carried on 
farming and jobl)ing in horses. He left a 
faniil\' of six children- — John, Elizebeth, 
Catharine, "William, Adelia and James. The 
last mentioned is deceased, and the remainder 
are yet unmarried. The mother of these 
children married for her second luisband 
Ciiarles Keiger. 

Lawrence was a single man, and died in 
the State of "Wisconsin. He was president 
of tiio St. Patrick's Total Abstinence So- 
ciety where he lived. He was born in 
Dodge county, "Wisconsin, and lived to the 
age of twenty-live years. He was a man of 
more than common ability, and was within 
a few months of being ordained as a minister, 
when he was called from earth. 

Our subject spent his youthful days in the 
common country school in "Waumandee, "Wis- 
consin, leaving the same when he was about 
fifteen years of age, having obtained a good 
common education. He then engaged in the 
lumbering business at Eau Claire, "Wisconsin, 
continuing in that line for seven years, after 
which he went to farming, continuing five 
years. After that he moved to Stevens 
county, Minnesota, where he has since lived. 
He took a homestead of 160 acres in Horton 
townslii|), living on the same for about seven 
years. He then traded that place for the 
farm lie is now living on in Moore township, 
section 9. His present place has 120 acres. 
He carries on general farming and also raises 
considei'al)le stock. There was a time when it 
was supposed that ^'orthern Aliimesota was 
nut adajited to stock-raising, but that day 
has louii' since passed, for no finer stock can 
Vie founil in the countiy than tiiat produced 
in this State. It has come to be the most 
common and profitable branch of farm in- 
dustry. 

Our worthy subject was married January 
lo, 1S76, at Waumandee, Wisconsin, to Miss 
Ann McQuiilen, wlio is a native of Wiscon- 
sin, and the daughter of Hugh McQuiilen a 



heavy farmer and stock grower. Mrs. Mi- 
lan is the 3'oungest of four children in her 
father's family— ]\[ary, Margaret, Joiin and 
Ann. Margaret and Mary are both dead ; 
also the father and mother ; the latter died 
February 2, 1881, and the former in April, 
1887. They were both meniliers of the 
Iloman Catholic Church. 

Our subject and his wife are the jiarcnts 
of six children — Agnes, Lawrence, Emma, 
Arthur, Laura (deceased), and ^^ary. ^Mr. 
]\nian believes in the ]irinciples of the demo- 
cratic party, and generally votes that ticket. 
Lfe was elected clei'k of Horton township in 
1S79, holding the office one term. The next 
two \'ears he was the treasurer of the town- 
ship ; also has been clerk of school district 
Xo. 20 for three years and is looked upon as 
one of the leading men of Horton township. 
He is at present school director of the district 
in which he resides. 



^S^DWARD H. HOLLMANN, who is en- 
V^^ gitged in the flour and feed busmess 
in the village of Morris and is the projirietor 
of the wood yard, was born in Galena, Jo 
Daviess count}', Hlinois, in 1851, and is the 
son of Rev. Charles and Louisa Hoilmann. 
x\.t the age of eighteen years he entered the 
German Wallace College, Baldwin Universi- 
tv, at Bray, Ohio, where he remained for 
some throe years. After his graduation from 
tliat institution he studied for one term in a 
Business College at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and 
at the age of twenty-three yeai's entered the 
ministr}^, in the German Melhodi.-^t Chuicii. 
For two years he fulfilled tiie duties of the 
position under the supervision of his father 
in Southern Minnesota, and tiien removed to 
Belvidere, this State, where he hadcliargeof 
a cono-reiration and built a church edifice. 
After two years' residence in tliat jilace, 
where be did excellent work and met wiili a 



482 



STEVEXS CO UN 'J- y, MINNESOTA. 



merited success in the service of the Master, 
he removed to Tomah, Wisconsin, and there 
continued to hibor in the vineyard of tlie 
Lord for about a year, but, his health failing, 
he was compelled to give up the work in 
which Ills heart was engao-ed and devote his 
attention to giving music lessons for over a 
year. At the expiration of that time he en- 
tered the emjiloy of tlie N^ational Publisljing 
Company, and was engaged in the office of 
that corporation for a time. Deciding to 
take u{) a farm, he came to Stevens county, 
Minnesota, and filed a claim to a tract of land 
in the town of Pepperton, and there devoted 
his attention to agriculture until the fall of 
18S7. 

While on his fai'm he was one of the most 
active citizens in all that seemed to be for 
the best interests of the community. He 
held the office of justice of the peace and 
town clerk and was an efficient officer. In 
the autumn of 1SS7 Mr. HoUmann came to 
Morris and established his ]n'esent business. 
He is a member of Crystal Lodge, Independ- 
ent Oi'tler Odd-Fellows, anil the family are 
exemplary members of the German Method- 
ist Church. 

Mr. IloUmann was united in marriage with 
Miss Mary Koester, of Xorthfield, Kice coun- 
ty, Minnesota. 



J^ENRY PELS, who will form the sub- 
-L^ll. ject of this sketch, was born in Prus- 
sia, Germany, July 1, ISiO. He is now a 
farmer of section 20, Moore township, Ste- 
vens county', Minnesota, and it maj' be <jf 
some interest for the reader of this book to 
trace the biography of this foreign born, but 
no\v Americanized citizen. 

He is the son of Gotlieb and Anna Pels, 
who were married in I'lussia, and there i-e- 
mained while they lived. The mother died 
in iSO-lr, the father following her about six 



months later. He was a farmer and a hard 
working man. Six children blessed and 
made homehapp\' for them — three boys and 
tln-ee girls all living to manhood and woman- 
hood — Ehvenfried, Carl, Henry, Fredericke, 
Johannah and Minnie. Our subject, Henry, 
spent his school da^^s at Giersdorf, Prussia, 
attending from the age of five to fourteen 
vears, during- which time he obtained a good 
and practical education, as most Germans 
do. After quitting his classes in school, he 
aided on his father's farm about three j'ears, 
and then enlisted in the Prussian army, in 
1857, serving for three years. He went in 
as a private, and through promotion came 
out a corporal. After being mustered out 
of the army, he remained about home a 
couple of years, and then came to American 
soil, landing at Quebec, Canada, in 1863, 
during the month of June. His trip lasted 
nearly two months, and, strange to say, he 
was never sea sick for a moment of the time. 

fter landing at Quebec, he worked five 
weeks in a marble sho}), and then concluded 
to try his fortune in the AVest, consequently 
came to Green Lake county, Wisconsin, 
where he remained until 1S69, except a por- 
tion of this period spent in Winnebago 
county. He then came to Olmsted county, 
Minnesota, where he stopped until 1872, 
engaged in farming most of the time. His 
next move was to Stevens county, Min- 
nesota, W'here he filed a claim on a quarter of 
section 20, Moore township, whei'e he has 
lived ever since. He now owns a half of 
section 16, and another quarter in section 
24 of Horton township. He carries on ex- 
tensive farming, and is comfortaljly sur- 
rounded with all that property will give to 
a man. He raises fancy blooded stock — 
Norman hoi-ses crossed by common stock. 

He was married November 12, 1863, to 
Miss Johannah Wolf, a Prussian in- l>irth. 
who came to this country in 1863. The^' 
were united in marriage at Princeton, Green 



.•^TF.r/iA'S COUNTY, MIXyESOTA. 



483 



Lake county, Wisconsin. Tlicy have five 
ln'iiilit cliildivn — August. Henry. ]N[innie. 
.^[;n•tlla. and Emma, all of whom arc yet un- 
married. 

Mr. Fels is a republican in his ])olitical 
belief, and has held various oliiccs, such as 
school clerk, of district No. 81. He also 
served as chairman of the board of supervis- 
ors for iloore township three years, and was 
a member of the board for four j'ears. He 
was township clerk for five years, and has 
generally held some office of public trust. 
He belongs to the Lutheran church at Fair- 
Held. Swift county, Minnesota. 

• • •^i ■jc^y^j;^" *^* • • 

MANS E. JOHNSON, one of the most 
jn'ominent citizens of the town of 
Stevens, is engaged in carr3nng on farming 
on section 34, where he has some 320 acres 
of land. He was born in the northern part 
of Norway, November 1, 1850, and is the son 
of Hans and Christine Nelson. His father, 
who was a seafaring man in his younger 
days, came to the United States and settled 
in P)ig Stone county, ^linnesota, where he is 
living at present. The suiiject of this sketch 
was the fourth in a famih^ of six children 
born to his parents, the othei-s lieing — Lena, 
Solva, Ncis, Hannah and Christina. 

Mr. Johnson was reared in the land of his 
birth until he had attained the age of four- 
teen years. The family then crossed the 
tempestuous Atlantic, in 1867, and after a 
stormy passage, landed at Quebec, Canada, 
after being on the water ten weeks. A few 
days after landing they came to the United 
States and located at St. Peter, Nicollet 
county, ^linnesota. Our subject remained in 
the latter place for some yeai-s, and then re- 
moved to Lake Lillian, Kandiyohi county, 
where he resided until. several yeai'slater,when 
he came to this county and preempted 16(1 
acres of land on section 34, Stevens township. 



He made his home on that piece of land for 
three or foui- years, and then removed to his 
present residence, on the baidcs of the lake. 
His dwelling is a neat and tasty one, and the 
buildings are surrounded bv a fine srrove 
that covers fourteen acres. 

Mr. Johnson was married. May 10, 1876, 
to Miss Celia Gabriel, a native of Norwav, 
who had been brought to this country by 
her parents in her childhood and was reared 
and educated in the United States. By this 
union they are the parents of foui- children — 
Ida, Lorinda, Julia and Henry. 

Mr. Johnson is independent of any partj' 
lines in his politics and has filled the office of 
assessor, was supervisor for two 3^ears, and 
is, at present, the incumbent of the position 
of treasurer of the town and of school 
district No. 30. Pie carried the mail from 
Artichoke to Ortonville, a distance of 21 
miles, for four years, and from Artichoke to 
Madina, a distance of six miles, since July 1, 
1888. 



f'^it^ 



Hl'HOMAS McCANNEY, 



a resident of 
section 14, Itendsville township, Stev- 
ens county, is a native of Ireland. His par- 
ents were James and Madge (Mc(ilinchey) 
McCanney, of County Tyrone, Ireland. He 
was born in 1844. His father came to Amer- 
ica when our subject was a small boy, leaving 
a younger brother and himself with their 
grandparents. At the age of seventeen he 
came to the Lhiited States, landing at Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, after a twenty -eight 
days' passage on the ocean. Among the in- 
cidents of his voyage, was the drowning of 
an old sailor, who dropped from the rigging 
and was lost. 

Mr. McCanne\' lived in and around Phila- 
delphia, engaging himself at the care of 
honses. He also worked two years in a roll- 
ing mill and an e(|ual length of time in a 



484 



STEVENS COUNTV. MINNESOTA. 



sugar refinery. In 1879 he removed to the 
county in which he now lives. He married 
Jane Knox, of Phihulelphia, Pennsylvania, 
Januar}' 11, 1862. Upon coming to Minne- 
sota he took up a homestead, as did so many 
of our now well-to-do farmers. He claimed 
the quai'ter section upon which he still lives. 
He has prospered and finally purchased 
another quarter section, thus making him 
320 acres of choice farming land. 

Mr. and Mrs. McCanney are the parents 
of six children, three of whom are still liv- 
ing — James J., born March 27, 1803; Thomas 
F., born February 28, 1870; and Letitia M. 
A., born December 11, 187-1. Anna, Jennie 
and John are deceased. 

Our subject and his household belong to 
the Catliolic Church. He is a democrat in 
his political belief and a publicsjiirited man, 
having been several times honored with local 
offices, such as supervisor and school treas- 
urer of his district. He is one of those men, 
who is full of ])usli and energy and whom 
one always finds attending to his own affairs, 
hence is in a prosperous condition. 



— .— .^^- 



yOn. JOHN D. GOOD, a prominent 
hardware mercliant of the village of 
Morris,isone of the earliest and most influen- 
tial settlers of Stevens county. He came 
here in 1869, at which time there were west 
of the Pomme de Terre River only four fam- 
ilies, those of Henry Gager, John Folsom, 
Warner Brothers and Philip Frisb}', none of 
whom are now residents in the county. At 
that time he took up land within a mile of 
where Morris now stands and opened a farm 
and tilled the soil until 1871. In January of 
that vear he removed to the village and 
opened a lumber yard, hauling his stock some 
three miles — the I'ailroad not having arrived 
in the place yet. When he first came to the 
countv, he luul hauled all his stufi' from 



Sauk Center, a distance of fifty miles, and 
put up the fii-st frame house. He found no 
roads or bridges and was compelled to raft 
the lumber over the streams and draw the 
wagon over with a long rope. Mr. Good has 
carried on his lundjer business ever since he 
first started it. In 1874 he inaugurated the 
hardware business, in which he is also still 
engaged and in 1877 combined with it tlie 
grocery and furniture trade and carries on 
all of these different lines. 

In the fall of 1875 Mr. Good was elected 
to represent this district in the State Legisla- 
ture. He has been a member of the village 
council for several terms and in all educa- 
tional matters takes a great interest, and is 
an active and efficient worker. He has a 
large landed interest in the county, owning 
some 400 acres in all ; t\vo farms, each of 160 
acres, he has under cultivation. 

Mr. Good was born in Harrisburg, Dauphin 
county, Pennsj'lvania, Januar}' 31, 1841, and 
is the son of Christian and Catharine Good. 
He remained in his native State until 1862, 
when he came to Minnesota and located in St. 
Pau],and was employed in the saw-mills there 
for two years. At the ex])iration of that 
time he went to the North Star Woolen 
Mills, where he was foreman for five years, 
after which he came to Stevens county, as 
related above. His father was interested in 
both saw and woolen mills in the " Keystone 
State," and our subject had a practical knowl- 
edge of both when he came West. In 1883 
the store buildings of Mr. Good were de- 
stroyed by fire, with a loss over $21,000, about 
half of which was covered by insurance. He 
immediately put up the edifice which he now 
occupies. 

Mr. Good was married, December 18, 1865, 
to Miss Nettie E. Jordan, a native of Sher- 
brook, Canada, and by this union thej' were 
the parents of one child that died in infancy. 

Mr. Good is one of the active members of 
the Masonic fraternity, having been one of 



STF.VE.VS COUA'TY, M/XNESOTA. 



485 



tlie cliai'ter members of Golden Sheaf Lodge 
No. 132, A., F. & A. M.; Mt. Lei. anon Cliap- 
ter, No. 47, K. A.M.; and Bethel Conimand- 
ery, No. 19, K. T. He is also a member of 
]\rinnca]iolis Consistory, No. 2, and Minne- 
apolis Council No. 2, and of Cr3'stal Lodge, 
No. 132. I. O. O. F. 



-«- 



ITaMES McDonald, a resident of section 
f^ 32, llorton township, Stevens count}', 
is a native of Ireland, born in Queen's 
county, ]\Larch 6, 1830 ; he is the son of 
Daniel and Ellen (Bergen) McDonald, 
natives of Ireland and Scotland, respectively. 
Tiie father died in England, and was a British 
soldier, and the mother came to the United 
States, locating in Pennsylvania. They iiad 
six ciiildren — James, Elizebeth, Sarah, Mary, 
Joiin and William. 

•lanu's. our subject, spent his sciiool days 
in Ireland, finishing at Liverpool, England, 
at the age of fifteen years. He came to the 
United States in 1S4S, landing in New York 
City, where he remained two days and one 
night, then went to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 
and remained until the fall of 1S49, enjjaoed 
at mining. He then spent a few months 
\nsitingin Sullivan county, of that State, and 
from there he went to Lycoming county, 
where he lived for about twent^y-three \'ears, 
engaged at mining most of the time. He 
then spent some time mining in Bradford 
county, and I'l-om there came to his pres- 
ent location, in Stevens county, Min- 
nesota, taking up a homestead of 160 
acres on section 32, as once descriljed. 
He aisotoolva tree claim of a (piarter section, 
giving him a line tract of land, amounting to 
a half section. He lirst came to that poi-tion 
of the county now known as Horton town- 
ship in 1877, and was among the first to 
settle there. He aided in perfecting the 
township (organization. 



Mr. McDonald was first married in De- 
cember, 1852, to Miss ]\Liry Driscoll, of Irish 
birth. She died in ISCO, leaving two 
children— Patrick and Ellen. The latter 
married John llonan. Patrick is still un- 
married. For his second companion Mr. 
McDonald nuirried Briilgett Coni'oy. She 
was born in Ireland, and came to America 
alone. They were nuirriod in 1S«U at 
Williarasport, Pennsj'lvania. 

In politics oursubject is a republican. He 
is school director of district No. 41, Horton 
township, and has served as a member of the 
board of supervisors for one term, having 
always taken an active interest in ail matters 
of a public or educational nature. 



'•^-J^^-*- 



^M^LFRED C. PECK, another one of 
_2^i>^ Stevens county's energetic and highly- 
esteemed farmers, is a native of Minnesota, 
born at Stanton, Goodhue county, November 
25, 1863. He is a son of Ira and Adeline 
(Ellis) Peck, natives, respectively, of New 
York and Vermont. They removed from 
the East to Minnesota, and were among the 
eai'ly settlers of Goodhue county. His 
father remained there until his death, in 
1880. In New York he was a farmer and 
mill operator, but in Minnesota farmed ex- 
clusivel\\ His fathers family consisted of 
two sons and two daughters — Arthur, Alice, 
Alfred C. and Arlie, all still living, and 
married except our subject, with whom 
the mother makes her home. When ifr. 
Peck came to Stevens county lie bought a 
farm of 100 acres, upon which he has made 
valuable improvements, and carried on a 
l)aying farm and stock-raising business. 
His location is section 21, Moore townshi]). 

Our subject olitained a common school 
education at Stanton, ^[innesota. leaving his 
studies at the age of eighteen years to enter 
t he active realities of life. He is a republican 



486 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



in politics, and ever ready to do liis share of 
party work. In the spring of 1887 he was 
chosen by iiis people as supervisor, which 
position he still fills. He belongs to the now 
popular order — Sons of Temperance. He is 
a young man of excellent business ability, 
and as a neighbor and exemplary citizen is 
held in hiffh esteem bv all who know him. 



!;!;YSANDER H. PUSHOR, one of Stevens 
county's mostliighly esteemed farmers, 
lives on section 18, of Morris township. He 
is a native of Maine, and was born July 6, 
1841, at Plymouth, Penobscot county. His 
parents were Peter and Hannah (Morse) 
Pushor, also natives of the State of Maine. 
Our sui)ject came of a long-lived family, as 
his grandfather on his father's side lived to 
reach the age of ninety-three years, while his 
father lived to be seventy-four years old. 
His mother is still living in Maine. 

The son, of whom we write, attended the 
common school and worked between terms, 
as all of the hardy, well-reared sons of New 
England did, until he was about nineteen 
years old, when he went to farming with his 
father, and followed it until he was convinced 
that duty called him to aid in the defense of 
his country, when he enlisted July 28. 1862, 
in Company K, Eleventh Maine Infantry. 
He served with that command until June 17, 
1865. His army life was anything but a 
pleasant experience, as he was blown up in a 
powder magazine at Morris' Island, caused 
by a shot from a rebel battery on James 
Island. Several men were wounded and two 
killed on the si)ot. He has felt the effects 
of the shock there received ever since. 
After the war closed he went back to Maine, 
and remained until 1875. During the month 
of March, of that year, he came West, stop- 
ping in Minneai)olis, Minnesota, for two 



From that city he came diiect to the locality 
in which he now resides. He took up a 
quarter section of land as a homestead, which 
constitutes a part of the farm he now lives 
upon. His total landed estate is at the pres- 
ent time a half section of valuable and well 
improved land. 

Mr. Pushor was married, March 31, 1867, 
to Mercy A. Woodman, by whom five chil- 
dren have come to bless their home ; they 
are — Ernest H., Lenora A., Mercy A., 
George L., and Elizabeth. 

In hispolitical belief and action Mr. Pushor 
is a republican, and has often been honored 
with various local offices of trust and im- 
portance. He is at the present time one of 
the board of county commissioners, and has 
been a member of the board before foi- seven 
years, during which time he has had much 
to do with the shaping of official matters 
within his county, and has ever proved effi- 
cient and caj)able in every official position he 
has held. 

In the autumn of 1880 Mr. Pushor took a 
trip back to his old native State, Maine, 
being absent about sixmonths, reviewing the 
familiar old scenes of his boyhood days, but 
still always thinking more of his new-found 
home in the Northwest than of anything he 
saw in the State in which he was reared. 



year 



s, where he was eng-aged at 



lumbering. 



I ||)'HEODORE LINSTAD, one of the 
yil7 prominent and influential citizens of 
the town of Framnas, is of Scandinavian 
birth, as are so many of the settlers in that 
portion of the county. He is the son of 
•lohn and Olivia (Peterson) Olson, and was 
born m Norway, March 21, 1850. He was 
reared in his native land until reaching his 
majority, and received a superior, classical 
education there in the days of his youth. 
At the age of twenty-one. in 1871, he turned 
his steps toward the new world, antl. crossing 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



487 



the stormy Atlantic, landed at Quebec, Can- 
ada, from whence he came, at once, to St. 
Paul, iMinnesota, and for two years was em- 
j)loyed on a railroad there. Tiie next tliree 
years lie spent in the gasfitting trade in that 
city, but in 1S75, came to Stevens county, 
and tooiv up, as a preemption claim, the 
land wliore he now lives. Shortly after he 
ciiangcd ids claim to a homestead, and per- 
fected Ids title to it. lie had had an ap- 
prenticeship at farming at home, on his 
father's ]dace, and has a thorough knowledge 
of the wants of agriculture. 

Mr. Linstad was married, October 8, 1875, 
to Miss Emma Olson, and bv this union is the 
father of nine children — Julia, Olivia, Obert, 
John, Gina (deceased), Gina, Edwart, Nettie 
and Bernliart. 

The subject of this sketch is a democrat in 
his political views, and has been prominently 
identified with the official life of the town 
and county. He was ap])ointed to fill the 
vacancy on the board of county connnission- 
ers caused by the death of Lars Larson ; he 
has held the office of town supervisor for 
two terms, that of town ti'easurer for six 
years and in the office of school clerk man\' 
years. He is an active member of the Luth- 
eran Church and of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. 



;}x'^5^0REN E. PIERCE, a prominent Imsiness 
ii^ man and hardware dealer at ]\f orris 
village, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 
Warren county. He remained in his native 
State until he was twenty yeai'sof age, when 
he came to Wisconsin, and remained tiiere 
teaching school for two years. In IS08 he 
moved to Minnesota and settled on a fai-m 
in Mower county. During the time of his 
sojourn in the hitler place he traveled to 
Pike's Peak, Colorado, and through the 



raining regions of the Western Territories. 
In February, 1876, he came to Stevens 
county, Minnesota, buying ftOO acres of rail- 
road land in Pepperton townshii), and build- 
ing his present store at Morris. In 1877 he 
put in a full line of furniture and crockery, 
and has since been successfully engaged in 
the business, besides carrying on farming ex- 
tensively. 

Mr. Pierce was married in ISOS. lie has 
held various offices in village and township, 
and is at present the vice-president of the 
Stevens County Bank. 



^■i^ 



«4i- 



RCHIBALD A. STONE, an extensive 
dealer in hardware, agricultural im- 
plements, wagons, buggies, etc., in Morris 
villasre, is a native of Canada. He was born 
in that province, October 30, 18.53, ami is a 
son of Herman and Polly Stone. When 
Archibald was but three years of age his 
parents moved to Belle Plaine, Minnesota, 
where his father engaged in the merchandis- 
ing business, he opening the fii*st store in 
that place. Later Mr. Stone, Sr., moved to 
Jordan, Minnesota, where he remained for 
some time, then moved to Le Seuer, at 
which place he followed the avocation of a 
miller. In 1876 he came to Morris, Minne- 
sota, at which place he is successfully oper- 
ating a flouring mill. Archibald remained 
with his parents until he was twenty-one 
years of age, when he started in life for him- 
self. For some time he worked at milling, 
and then engaged in his preseid business in 
Morris. Before opening his present place of 
business he attended the State Univei-sity 
for a short time. 

Mr. Stone is a member of the Odd-Fel- 
lows' fraternity and other social organiza- 
tions, and is highly esteemed as a business 
man and as an exemplary citizen. 



488 



STEVFNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



/p^JVLE LOFTHUS, who lives on section 30, 
x^i/ Synnes township, Stevens county, is 
a native of Norway, born at Christiania, 
October 14, lS-44. He is the son of Ole and 
Christina (Syverson) Lofthus, natives of 
Norway. They came to this country in 
1858. They lived at St. Peter, until the 
father died, in 1879 — the mother died a year 
later. Tlieir trip across the ocean consumed 
five weeks; tliey arrived at St. Peter, Minne- 
sota, July 4, 1S5S. The family consisted of 
father, mother and seven children — Sigra, 
liagnild, Christina, Julia, Ole, Sever and 
Lars. 

Our subject spent his youthful days in 
school at New Sweden, Minnesota. Leaving 
school at the age of seventeen years he en- 
listed in Company E, Second Minnesota 
Infantry, October 15, 1861. He went in as 
a private and returned as a corporal. He 
was discharged at Fort Snelling, August 10, 
1865. He took part in the following battles — 
Mill Spring, Kentucky, January 19, 1862; 
Perry ville, October 7, 1862 ; Pittsburg Land- 
ing, April 7, 1862 ; Siege of Corinth, in 1863 ; 
Mission Ridge, October 23, 1863 ; Siege of 
Atlanta; Sherman's "march to the sea,"' 
and many otlier liai-d fought battles and 
wear\' marches. Finally they came from 
Carolina to Richmond and from there to 
Washington, District of Columbia. They 
were mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, 
and discharged at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 
After his discharge our subject went back 
to his parents' home, in Nicollet county, 
where he farmed until he moved to Stevens 
county, in the fall of 1879. He there home- 
steaded a quarter section of land, on section 
30 ; also availed himself of the tree claim act, 
thus giving him a half section of land in all. 

Mr. Lofthus was married, October 11, 
1865, to Miss Bertena Beck, born in Norway, 
coming to this country in 1862, livmg at St. 
Peter, and was there married to her husl^and. 
They have six children — three of each sex — 



Ole E., Josephena, Lars, Eddv, Martha 
Christina and Laura. The children are all 
at home at the present time. 

Mr. Lofthus is a republican in his politics. 
He holds the office of clerk of his school 
district, and is a man who takes a deep in- 
terest in educational and public matters in 
general. 



J^\UNFORD DICKINSON, who is a 
_^iJjr^ well known farmer, and highly re- 
spected citizen of Hodge township, Stevens 
county, living on section 14, forms the spe- 
cial subject of this sketch. Like many other 
men who have aided in the settlement and 
better development of Stevens county, he has 
a place in history, if for no other purpose than 
to set forth before the coming generations, 
wliat one man can accomplish, when pos- 
sessed of the true and manly determination 
to grapple with the obstacles of life. 

Our subject was born September 13, 1838. 
Llis ]iarents were James and Debra (Mun- 
ford) Dickinson, natives of Delaware. They 
married in that State, and remained there 
about fifteen years after marriage, and then 
immigrated to Pennsylvania, and from there 
to Prairie City, Illinois, where the father 
still lives, aged eighty-eight years, having 
been born in 1800. The mother, who was 
born in 1803, died, in 1873, in Ilhnois. Both 
parents belonged to the Methodist Church. 
The father has always been engaged in lum- 
bering and dry goods business. He now 
lives with his son D. R. Dickinson. 

The family consists of seven chiklren now 
living — Harrietta, Lena, Mar}- Emiline, Sail}' 
Maria, D. R. Ransler and Munfonl. 

Our subject, Munford, spent his school 
days in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and 
Troy, New York, finishing at the age of 
seventeen years, receiving a practical eckica- 
tion. He then went to clerking in a store 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



4S9 



U)v a man named Stoddard, who handled dry 
goods and groceries. lie remained with him 
three yeai's and then went to St. CroLx, 
AVisconsin, and engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness. He next engaged in farming for two 
years, and tlien went into tiic livery business 
at Lak(;land, Washington count}-, Minnesota, 
remaining at this for two years, at the end 
of which time he enlisted in the Second Wis- 
consin Cavalry, entering the army Decem- 
ber 3, 180)2, untlei' Captain Ijurnell. He en- 
tered as a private and came out as a quarter- 
master, having been commissary. He was 
engaged in the battles of Yazoo City, Prairie 
Gi'ove (Missoui'i"), Black Iiiver Bridge, 
Natchez, ]\Ienij)his and manv other of less 
note in histoi-y. He was discharged at Aus- 
tin, Ti'.xas, antl came back to Madison, then 
to Hudson, Wisconsin. It shoidd here be 
stated, however, tiiat he was taken prisoner 
at Yazoo City and held ten days. He was 
shot in the shoulder at the same battle, 
which laid him up for a few days onl\r. 
Upon iiis return he engaged in the lumber 
business for a time, but finally moved to Han- 
cock, Stevens county, being one of the first 
men to settle in Moore township, where he 
liomesteaded 160 acres of land, on section 2, 
which he improved and lived on six years. 
He then went to work for Fonsworth & 
iS'ewcomb on a farm located on sections 13, 
15 and 23, near where he now- lives. He 
acted as foreman for this liiin for three 
years, then moved to his present place, on 
section 1-4, where he has 160 acres, all well 
improved. 

Afr. Dickinson was married Xovcmbei" 7, 
I><87. to .Miss I.otta Johnson, a native of 
rcnnsylv;inia. Her lather is living and 
matle his home in Stevens county until 18SS, 
but now at lied Wing, Minnesota. The 
mother died in March, 1887. Mrs. Dickin- 
son l)elongs to tiie ^lethodist Episcopal 
Chui-ch. 

In politics our subject is a republican. 



He belongs to the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and is a very prominent man in his 
township. 

Their children are — Josejjhene and 
Frankie, both of whom are married. The 
former married John Sanders, of Morris. 
Minnesota, while the latter is the wife of F. 
Douglass, of Hancock, Minnesota. 

Mr. Dickinson is extensively (iiigaged in 
farming and stock-raising, having thirtylive 
cows and four horses. He has seven head of 
blooded stock, including Holsteinand Short- 
horn cattle. 



"• V* '1 



►^- 



J|li)ATR!CK GRIFFITH, a prosperous and 
_1S^ highly respected farmer at Stevens 
count}', is a resident of re))j)erton townshi]i, 
section 12. He was born in Ireland, March 
17, 1831, and remained in his native land un- 
til he was fifteen 3"ears of age, when he 
carae to America, and after landing in New 
York City, New York, he went to Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania. He remained there for some 
seven 3'ears, working at gardening and receiv- 
ing but sixtj'-two cents a clay when he com- 
menced; but wages soon increased and he was 
able to gain a fair livelihood. Leavins: that 
place, he went to Goodhue county, Minne- 
sota, where he bought farm of b^'ty aci-es, and 
as fast as his means allowed bought additional 
land. When he sold out, in 1878, his farm 
comprised some 280 acres under good culti- 
vation. He then bought 320 acres on section 
12, Pepperton township, Stevens county, for 
*2,600, and has since made this his home. 

Mr. Griffith was married in Decend)er, 
1854, to Miss Mary Kenney. and they have 
had a family of the following children — 
Michael E., George A., Thomas F., James P., 
William H., Sarah A., Minnie E., Catherine 
A., and Maggie J., besides two who aie <le- 
ceased. 

Mr. Griffith is a representative man of his 



490 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



township, and takes an active interest in all 
local affairs, and has held the offices of super- 
visor, school director, etc., etc. In the fall 
of 1862 our subject enlisted in the First 
Minnesota Heavy Artillery, and served until 
the close of the war, principally at Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee. Owing to poor rations 
and severe exposure, he lost his health, which 
he has never fully regained. lie has a valu- 
able farm of 320 acres, well under cultiva- 
tion, with good buildings and a grove of ten 
acres. Besides this land he has eighty acres 
in the city limits of Graceville, Big Stone 
county, Minnesota, and has two acres in St. 
Paul, Minnesota. He is a member of the 
Overton Post, No.^ 99, Grand Army of the 
Bepublic; in politics he is independent. 



J^RANK M. NEWELL, the efficient post- 
Jl'"'" muster at the village of Morris, was 
born in Rhode Island, on February 17, 1846. 
His parents c;une to Minnesota in 1854, and 
located in Dakota county, where the father 
died when Frank was only about ten years 
of age, so that he was early thrown upon his 
own resources. When eleven he went to St. 
Paul and remained there until the war brok'e 
out. He then enlisted in the First Minnesota 
Infantr}^, but was rejected on account of dis- 
abilit}', and returned to his mother's farm in 
Dakota county. In 1864 he went to Hast- 
ings, and for twelve years served as deputy 
sheriff of Dakota countj^ In 1876 he en- 
gaged in the grocery trade at Hastings and 
remained thei'e until July, 1880, when he 
caine to Stevens county and opened a general 
merchandise store at Morris. He continued 
in this business until the fall of 1887. In 
April, 1887, he received tiie appointment of 
postmaster at Morris, and still I'ctains the 
offi(^e. He has always taken a prominent 
ami active part in all matters of a public na- 



ture, and for four years served as a member 
of the village council, and a portion of the 
time as president of that body. 

Mr. Newell was married in 1880 to Miss 
Agnes McHugh, of Hastings, Minnesota. 



JM^ANS H. GABRIEL, a i)rominent farmer 
.iL^tl. of the town of Stevens, living on 
section 34, is the son of John and Anna 
(Planson) Gabriel, natives of Norway, and 
was born in Norway, March 5, 1860. His 
parents were married in the land of their 
birth and came to this country at an early 
day, and settled near Chicago. They re- 
sided tiiere for three years and then came to 
this State, locating at St. Peter. One year 
later they removed to Kandiyohi county, 
where the father still lives, and where the 
mother died when Hans was but thirteen 
years old. Of their family of nine children 
but three survived childhood— Celia, Johan- 
na and Hans. After the death of his mother, 
the father of our subject was married again 
to Mrs. Anna Johnson. 

Hans II. Gabriel, of whom this sketch is 
written, was reared in Kandiyohi count}', 
iiiid there received his education. He re- 
mained at home until he had attained the 
age of twenty -one, and then came to Stevens 
county, and took u]i a homestead of 160 
acres of land and a tree claim of a like num- 
ber of acres, where he now lives. 

The subject of this memoir was mari'ied, 
June 18, 1888, to Miss Josephine Nelson, a 
native of Norway, and the daughter of John 
and Christine Nelson. 

Mr. Gabriel has served as supervisor of 
Stevens township one term, having been elect- 
ed to tiiat office in 1S86. He was chosen to 
iill tlie place of assessor in 1887, but resigned 
tiie same in March, 1888, as his business 
would not allow him to hold it. In the 



STEVFXS COU.VTY, M/XXr.SOTA. 



491 



spring of 1888 he was elected clerk of the 
town, and holds the office at present, and 
is the director of school district No. 30. He 
isoneof tiie Icadingand iiilluontial citizens of 
tlio townsliip. and one of the foremost farm- 
ers of tiie county. Having the respect of 
the community in a iiigli degree, and being 
in excellent circumstances, his position in liie 
county is an envialih? one. 

]\lr. (iahriei and wife are exemplary mem- 
bers of the Ilaptist cliui'cli, of which organi- 
zation he is secretary. In political matters 
he affiliates with the rejjublican l>arty. 



-««; 



KHenry 

l^A. farm 



►^^ 



ISHERWOOD, who now lives a 
life on section 17, Synnes town- 
ship, Stevens county, was born August 27, 
1849, at Fall River, Massachusetts. He is 
the son of John and Margaret Isherwood, 
natives of iMigland, where they were mar- 
ried. The father worked in the print works 
of P]ngland, and came to America in an early 
(hiy — about 1845 — settling in Massachusetts, 
where he lived until througii with the toils 
of life. Our subject has a brother and sis- 
ter there now, at a place near where the 
parents lived and died. The mother died 
first, and wiien the father was fifty-five 
years old, he enlisted in the late war, serving 
two vears and ten months. He was regu- 
larly mustered out, antl only lived a short 
time after coming home ; he died from the 
effects of exposure in the army, it is sup- 
posed. They had nine children, all men 
and women grown — James, John, Henry, 
Alice, Margaret, Mary, Lizzie, Ellen and 
Sarah. 

Our subject, Henry, received most of his 
schooling at Fall River, Massachusetts, at- 
tending until he was fourteen years of age, 
after wiiich he was engaged in cotton mills for 
eight years. He attended school and worked 
in the factorv at the same time, for several 



years, hence he knows what education costs 
and is worth to a man. He came to Red 
Wing, INIinnesota, and was there located 
from the time he was seventeen to twentv- 
three years old. He spent the next threeyears 
in the East, then spent another summer in 
Red Wing, after which he came to Stevens 
count}', and is now located on section I", as 
described above, where he operates a (jiiar- 
ter section of land, raising grain and l)aying 
much attention to stock-breeding, which, in 
Minnesota, has come to be a jiaying branch 
of farm industry. 

Mr. Isherwood was married in March, 1881, 
at Red Wing, to Miss Cora Lane, who was 
born in Goodhue county, Minnesota, in I808, 
the daughter of William Lane, wlio died in 
1870. The mother is still living. They were 
theparents of seven children — Herbert, now 
a physician, at Ellsworth, Wisconsin ; Ed- 
ward, Sherman, Elvina, William, Lilly and 
Cora. 

Our subject and his wife have been 
blessed with three children — Edith May, 
Lilly Ellen and Florence Yina. 

In politics Mr. Isherwood is a republican. 
He has won the good will of a large circle 
of friends, who prize his many virtues, and 
he is held in high esteem, both as a neigh ijor 
and an exeraplarv citizen. 



-^►' 



KLenry bald 

xr-1. tham. Mass 



BALDWIN is a native of Wal- 
assachusetts, born January 
29. 1S35, and came West in April, 1858, lo- 
cating at Leof Lake. Otter Tail county. 
Minnesota, whei-e he renuuned about four 
years. At the time of the Indian outbreak 
he moved to St. Cloud and joined the volun- 
teer company from that place under Cajitain 
Taylor, which marched as far as Fort Abei-- 
crombie. In the fall of LSt52 lie hegan to 
carry mail from Crow Wing to Pembina, 
which he continued until the following Jan- 



4Q2 



STEVEXS COUXTY. MIXNESOTA. 



nary. He was at different points until 1869, 
when he came to Stevens county. He was 
among the lirst settlers of tlie county, and 
opened a smal 1 store at Gager's Station. Mr. 
Baldwin continued in trade until 1870, wlien 
he took a claim ol ninety-five acres on sec- 
tion 26, Morris township. He remained here 
only a short time, when lie entered the mer- 
cantile business in Morris. In the fall of 
1872 he was elected to the office of clerk of 
court, which position he held for three suc- 
cessive terms. In 1886 he returned to fai'm- 
ing once more, but in tiie spring of 1S8S he 
entered the auditor's office as deputy. Mr. 
Baldwin is a mcmljcr of the Masonic fra- 
ternity and a number of other social organi- 
zations. 



JHIeNRY T. BEVANS, of Morris, is one 
Xr A. of the leading attorneys of Stevens 
county. He was born in Illinois, May 25, 
1839, and is a son of Lorenzo and Hannah 
Bevans. his fatiier being a lawyer of promi- 
nence. When Henry T. was still an infant 
the family removed to Grant county, Wis- 
consin, where the fatiier died in 1846. 

Our subject, Henry T. Bevans, was early 
thrown upon his own resources, and has made 
his own way in the world since childhood. 
He was brought up in the family of a 
brother-in-law in Goodhue county, Minne- 
sota, receiving his education in the common 
schools, and also attending Hamlin Univer- 
sity, then located at Eed Wing, Minnesota. 
When the war broke out he enlisted in Com- 
pany F, First Minnesota Infantry, and was 
mustered in on April 29, 1861. He participated 
.in the first and second battles at Bull Run, 
Antietam and Fredericksburg. He then 
became first lieutenant in Hatch's battalion, 
and went willi the expedition through the 
Northwest, lla then resigned, and went to 
Washington, District of Columbia, wiiere he 



entered the secret service. He was in Ford's 
Theatre on the night President Lincoln was 
assassinated, and was detailed to particijjate 
in the pursuit of the assassm. 

After the close of the war Mr. Bevans 
leturned to Red Wing, Minnesota, studied 
law, and was admitted to the l)ar in 1871. 
In 1876 he located at Morris, and- has since 
remained here, except four years — from 1883 
to 1887 — when he was Deputy United States 
collector at St. Vincent. Mr. Bevans is a 
mend)er of the Grand Army of the Rejiub- 
lic, and also belongs to the Odd-Fellows" 
order and the Masonic fraternity. 



^^- 



_ kARK COLEMAN, whose present home 
I^JJ%^ is on section 14, Darnen township, 
is a native of Ireland. He was born in 1843, 
and remained in the home of his childhood, 
until 18 years of age, at which time he went 
to England, living there for three years, then 
immigrated to America, leaving Liverpool, 
July 11, 1866. and arriving at New York hai-- 
bor the 27th of the same month. He re- 
mained at Green Point, New York, until the 
following March, when he started for Min- 
nesota. He stopped at St. Paul a few days, 
and went from there to Green Isle, Sibley 
county, for the purpose of visiting an uncle, 
who was a resident of that count}'. Return- 
ing to St. Paul, he was at once employed as 
a steamboat hand, from which place he went 
with theAvorkmen of the Sioux City Railway 
Companj', where he remained imtil the fol- 
lowing July, then was engaged by the Wi- 
nona and St. Peter Railway Comjmny. He 
worked as a contractor under De Graff & 
Company, of that road, until such work was 
finished for the season, and then, not wishing 
to be idle, he went to St. Paul, and M'orked 
for the St. Paul & Lake Suj)erior Railway 
Company ; then for the Chicago, Milwaukee 
A: St. Paul Railway. In 1S6S he was en- 



STEVFNS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



493 



gaged with tlie St. Paul & Pacific Railroad 
Company. .Tune, 1869, he commenced grad- 
ing, under contract, at Smith Lalce, his 
first contract lieing for 1,500 feet. Being 
the riglit man in tiie right jilacc, lie kept 
on at grading until June IG, 18C9, do- 
ing work at different ])oints along the St. 
Paul A: Pacific system, including the sec- 
tion between l)e Graff and Morris. Wlien 
this work reached comjiietion lie again 
sought eniplovmenl in llie Lake regions, 
and worked on the Lake Superior' Rail- 
way line. His energy and ambition now 
caused him to go to Louisiana, where tilings 
did not altogether suit his fancy, as he onl\' 
worked nineteen days out of the six weeks 
he remained there ; so he returned as far 
north as St. Louis, and engaged with the 
Iron iVIountain Railway Company, at good 
paying wages. He remained with that road 
until April, 1871, when he spent two months 
at St. Louis. We next find him in the em- 
2iloy of the Lake Superior & St. Louis 
Railway, where lie remained until November 
of ISTl, and wa^^ then taken sick and unable 
to woik until the following spring. During 
1871, he speculated some in the haj' trade, 
purchasing 300 tons, which, latei- in the season 
\ielded him a handsome profit. The same 
year he started for the St. Vincent branch 
of the St. Paul it Pacific Railway, and on 
his way up took u]i the IfiO acres of land 
u]ion which he now lives. He remained long 
enough to make the necessary improvements 
on his land, such as breaking, tree planting, 
tlie buikling of a "claim shanty," etc., and 
then went on to pursue his work as a i-ailway 
grader on the St. Vincent division, wliich 
work paid him about nine dollars per day. 
P^rora the time he quit this work, for two or 
three years he followed dealing in milch cows, 
fat stock, etc., always driving sharp trades, 
and making good ))rofits on his live stock. 
Rut he finally concluded to further improve 
his land, and consequently in the spring of 



1876, seeded down twenty-five acres, and 
did other good work about his premises, and 
again took to railroading — this time on the 
line of the Canadian Pacific I'oad, wiierein a 
few weeks he lost $600 on grading contracts. 
In the spring of 1877. he sowed sixty-eight 
acres of wheat, from which he harvested oUO 
bushels ; the following year's farming exper- 
ience was much better, and so well pleased 
with hisnew-nuule home was he that he sever- 
ed his connection with I'ailroad labor, and has 
since been one of the thoroughgoing farmers 
of this county. He has one farm of KiO 
acres on section 14, and another " (puirter 
section farm" on section 36, Darnen town- 
ship, both well improved. He is one of 
those few men who have courage to hold 
out as a hard worker, making the most of 
every turn in life, until finally his labors 
have been crowned with signal success. 

Mr. Coleman was married February 11, 
1885, to Miss Mary (^oleinan, by wliich 
union their household is blessed with two 
cliildi'cni — I'ridget.I. and Peter .1. 

Mr. Coleman is chairman of the I'"ai'iiier"s 
Alliance, and since 1876, has been treasui'cr 
of his school district. 



,^\ NDREW J. COMSTOCK, deceased, 
.Z^'^JL was a prominent liguie in the ollicial 
history of Stevens county, lie was i>orn at 
Argyle, ^[aine, Septembers, 1834. In 1^71 
he came to Stevens county, and located upon 
a farm in the town of Moore. Tiiere he 
made im]>rovements and remained for a 
number of years, and then moved to the 
village of Llancock and became proprietor 
of the Commercial Hotel, whicii he con- 
ducted until the time of his death, which 
occurred July 23, 1881, During his life he 
took an active interest in all matters of a 
public nature, and hehl various school and 
other local ottlces, and for several years 



494 



STEVEA^S COirXTY, MINNESOTA. 



served as a member of the board of count}' 
commissioners. 

Mr. Comstock was married, in 1S5+, to 
Miss Alice Pettengill, and they became the 
parents of three children — Annette, Flora 
and Adlev. 



^^^ 



A. NILSON, a member of tlie firm of 
*^11 Larson & Xilson, is one of the most 
prominent business men of Mori'is, and is an 
old settler in Stevens county. He was liorn 
in Norway, March 20, IS-t-i. and when fif- 
teen years of age adopted a seafaring life. 
About five years later he came to the United 
States, and for about seven years followed 
the business of a sailor on the great lakes. 
At the expiration of that time, in 1871, he 
came to Stevens county, Minnesota, and lo- 
cated in tiie village of Morris, engaging in 
the mercantile business, in company with his 
present partner, under the firm name of 
Larson & Nilson. The Ijusiness has been 
continued thus ever since, and the firm now 
rate as one of the most solid and substantial 
institutions in the county. 

Mr. Nilson is a married man, and he and 
his wife are honored members of the Luth- 
ei'an Church. 



•■'^!^}^'-*- 



r^COB HENRICHS, one of the highly 
respected citizens of Stevens county, 
Minnesota, is a resident of section 10, Rends- 
ville township. By birth he is a German; he 
was born on the historic Rhine, September 
19, 1855, the son of Joseph and Anna (Bow- 
lig) Henrichs. At the age of three years 
he accompanied his pai'ents to the United 
States, settling at Hay Greek, Goodhue 
count}', Minnesota He had but little school- 
ing, but by observation has come to be a 
well informed man. His father took a 



homestead upon which they lived until his 
death, in 1875. Here our subject spent his 
youthful days on the farm, occasionally 
working out. At the age of eighteen years 
he made a trip to the Red River country. 
When twenty-three years of age he left 
home, and in 1878 came to the township 
where he now lives, where he purchased a 
tree claim, planting out 11,000 trees, but, 
owing to one cause or another, they failed to 
materalize into a forest. He then claimed 
tiie same as a homestead, where he has since 
lived. He is an excellent carpenter, and has 
worked some at various times at that. 

He was married January 1, 1885, to Miss 
Emma Shauers. of Grant county, Minnesota, 
by which union two children have been 
born — John and IMaggie. In his politics Mr. 
Henrichs is a democrat. He belongs to the 
Roman Catholic Church, while his good wife 
is a member of the Lutheran Church. They 
have seen much of the hardships of pioneer 
life, but have always made the most of life's 
changes, and finally ])ossess a good farm 
home, which provides them with the com- 
forts of life. 

OHN GILLESPIE isanativeof New York 
^ City, being boi'n there July 11, 1846. 
His parents were botii foieigners who came 
to New York in their childhood, where they 
spent their lives. John was an only 
cliild, and at the age of eleven was left an 
orphan. From this on he was his own 
master. When fourteen years old he found 
employment in a drug store, which he fol- 
lowed until he became a soldier. In No- 
vember, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, 
Fortv-eighth Indiana Infantrv, and served 
until January, 1865, when he was honorabl}' 
discharged. He participated in several 
important engagements and skirmishes. On 
being discharged he went to Newark, Ohio, 
where he again engaged in the drug business 



STEVIiNS COUNTY, MINXESOTA. 



495 



In 1868 he came to Minnesota, in which State 
he lias since remained, being cliiefly engaged 
in tiie di'iig business. Since 1S84- j\[r. 
Gillespie has been a resident of Jlorris, 
Stevens county. lie lias lieen engaged here 
in several occupations, as drug dork and 
employed in the auditor's and register's of 
deeds offices. He is also justice of the 
peace and village librarian. He is a member 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the 
Odd-Fellows' fraternity, and of otiier oi-gaiii- 
zations, and one of the leading citizens of the 
villao-e and countv. 



^fy^^ 



1 TUART B. WELLS, who resides on a 
^^ tine farm on section 33, Moore town- 
ship. Stevens county, is a native of the State 
in which he now lives. lie was born at 
Warren. Goodliue county. August 3, 1802. 
His parents were J. L. and Margaret (Magee) 
Wells, who were united in marriage in New 
York City, where they lived, with the excep- 
tion of a sliort time in New Jersey, until tlie\' 
came West. The father was born on Broad- 
way street, Xew York City, and the motliei- 
in New Jersey. They are both living at 
present in Warsaw, ^Minnesota, where they 
carry on farniing for a liveliiiood. They have 
a family of si.x children — William, Benjamin, 
Stuart, Jacob, Emma :md Amanda, all of 
whom are now living. 

Mr. Weils attended the pui)lic schools of 
his native county, Goodhue, and also spent 
some time in attending school at NorthfieUI. 
Minnesota. He discontinued his schooling 
at the age of nineteen years, and from the 
school room he went to farm life, spending 
a year or more at that. He then turned his 
attention to speculating in cattle, hogs, barley, 
etc. 

lie was married, February 25. 1885, to 
Arlie Feck, the ceremony taking place in his 
native countv. Ills wife is the daughter of 



Ira and Adeline (Ellis) Peck. The father is 
deceased, ilrs. Wells was educated princi- 
pally in Goodhue and Rice counties, Minne- 
sota. She is now the mother of one son — 
Fay, born JFarch 13. 1887. 

Our suliject is an indeiiendeiit in [lolitics, 
never failing to support the best man, re- 
gardless of his ])articular party ideas. He 
came to Stevens county in 1878, and located 
where he now lives, taking up 160 acres of 
land, which he has added to, now giving him 
a farm of 170 acres, upon which he carries 
on general farming, including stock-grow- 
ing. He handles the Poland-China breed of 
swine — "full bloods." He has 500 head of 
fine sheep, and keeps from ten to twenty- 
five head of cattle. He also grades horses. 
To the stock-raising feature may doubtless 
lie attributed his financial success. His 
place is well cultivated and improved by 
good building's, fences, etc. He ])ossesses a 
fine home, of which any young man in the 
land might well feel proud. 



-♦-J 



-.&•► 



i^OLONELRUFUSC.STEVENS. theprcs- 
^^^y cut editor of the Morris Trihuui'. is a 
native of Vermont, born in Cabot. Caledonia 
countv. April 5. 1821. His parents. Closes 
and Hilty (^Kimballj Stevens, were both 
natives of New Hampshire, and of English 
descent. The father died in Rockingham 
county. New Ilympshire. in 1814. and tiie 
mother died nineteen years later, in the same 
county, in 1803. At the age of thirteen 
vears. Rufus accompanied his jiarents to New 
Hampshire, and for the ne.xt three years re- 
mained at home, receiving a limited common 
school education. In 18-10 he decided to 
learn tiie printer's trade, and, accordingly, 
I'Utered the office of tiie Herald of Freeilom, 
at Concord. New Hampshire, lie remained 
with this strongly anti-slavery paper for two 
vears or more, and then was employed at 



496 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Boston and various other places, as a journey- 
man printer, until the fall of 1S49, when he 
took passage on the bark Domingo, for San 
Francisco, by way of Cape Horn, arriving 
there April 7, 1850. His first employment was 
wheeling sand forthecit^' wharf at fifty cents 
per hour. This seems a liberal compensation, 
but it must be remembered that everything 
cost in proportion. He next woi'ked in the 
postoffice for three months, at the expiration 
of which time he went 150 miles into the in- 
terior, with a party of four, in search of 
gold. Here they washed from $(5 to $8 a 
day each, and although living was expensive, 
Mr. Stevens says, he was enabled to save from 
$4 to $6 per day. During the latter pai't of 
the year 1851, he came back to the " States" 
intending to return to the mines, but this 
plan was never executed. Early in 1852 he 
[jurchased the Belknap County Gazette, a whig 
jiaper, which he published at ^Meredith's Ridge, 
until 1857. During this time, in the \'eai's 185-1 
and 1855, he served t^vo terms as representa- 
tive in the State Legislature. Coraing-to La 
Salle. La Salle county, Hlinois, in 1857, he 
formed a ])artnei'slii|) with E. C. Webster in 
the pul)licatioii of tiie I'ress. This continued 
until tlie fall of 18(12, when he joined the 
stream of volunteers then going to the front 
in obedience to the needs of the Government. 
He was made adjutant of the One Hun- 
dred and Fourth Regiment, and served 
in that capacity until the close of 
the war. He saw very active service, and 
was twice w^ounded, one w'ound confining 
him three months. The followino' engage- 
ments were tliose in which he was a partici- 
])a,nt: Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, 
Mission Ridge, Chickamauga, ninety da\'s 
battles before Atlanta, engagements at Sa- 
vannah, and the march thrtnigh North and 
South Carolina. He was in the grand re- 
view at Wasliinglon. and was honorably dis- 
charged in 1S(>5. 

Returning to La Salle, Illinois, Mr. Stev- 



ens was shortly appointed revenue inspector 
of the Sixth District of Illinois, and this ap- 
pointment necessitated his removal to Ot- 
tawa, Illinois. He held the position for two 
years, until it was abolished by law. After 
engaging in grain-purchasing for one season, 
he took charge of the Press. In 1876 he 
was elected sheriff, and again removed to 
Ottawa, where he renuimed until 1881. He 
spent the summer of 1881 in Minnesota, after 
which he returned to Ottawa and purchased 
the Glohe, which he successfully operated 
until 1888, when he came to^Morris, Minne- 
sota, and purchased the Tribune, one of the 
leading periodicals in Stevens county. 

Mr. Stevens was married December 7, 
1851, at Meredith's Ridge, New Hampshire, 
to Hannah E. Chene\^, a daughter of Seth 
and Elizabeth Cheney. Bj' this union one 
child was born — Nelson C, now a printer at 
Ottawa. Mrs. Stevens' death occurred in 
August, 1868, at Ottawa, Illinois, and Octo- 
ber 31, 1869, Mr. Stevens was united the sec- 
ond time in marriage to Helen T. Freeman, 
a daughter of ]\r. G. Freeman. They have 
been blessed by two children — Rufus F. and 
Bruce. Mr. Stevens is a staunch adherent 
to the principles of the republican party, and 
is a man prominently identified with all pub- 
lic matters, whether State or county. 



^^D E. HARSTAD, a well-to-do farmer 
\^il of Stevens count}' and a resident of 
section 30, Rendsville township, is a native of 
Norway. He was born February 17, 1860. 
His parents are Erick and Carrie (Tosen) 
Erickson, who were also natives of Norway. 
At the age of nine years, our subject's parents 
immigrated to this country, landing in New 
York, in 1869; they were eighteen days on 
the voyage from Glasgow. The trip was 
a calm one most of the time ; only one 
death occurred among the many passengers. 



STEFEXS COUNTY, M J X X /■: SO TA . 



497 



Tlie father came to Benson, Minnesota, 
where he worked on tlic raih'dad. In tlie 
fall of 1S69 he took u]) a liomestoail, as above 
described, lie improved the place at once, 
building his house on the east side of a hake 
and within a natural grove. Tiie father 
died in February, IS";?. The niolher is still 
living, and, together with our subject, carries 
on the farm, he having the management of 
the place. The jiaients had a very hard 
time at first; they came to the county at a 
time when everything was new. 

Air. llarstad was married in ilarch, 1883, 
to Miss Annie Oleson, of Eendsville town- 
shi]). Two children bless tliis union — Clara 
antl Elvira. In his political belief Mr. Plar- 
stad is a republican. He is a member of the 
Lutheran Church, and has the respect of all 
within the range of his accpiaintanco. He is 
a young man full of energy, and although he 
could only obtain a limited education, he has, 
by hard labor and careful observation, come 
to be a well-i)ostcd man and a leading and 
representative farmer of the county. He has 
sterling qualities, and is highly I'esjiected 
both as a neighbor and an exemplary citizen. 



-■^ 



"»- 



wx NUD J. HUSEVOLD, the postmaster 
Iff(\^ at Cyrus, and a prominent member 
of the farming population of the town of 
Fi'amnas, was born in Xorway, December 
28, 1832, and was reared beneath the roof of 
his parents' cottage in that country. lie is 
the son of John and llalga (Kalsrud) Huse- 
vold. who were natives also of Norway, and 
came to the United States with them in 
ISb"!. The family landed at N'ew York, and 
from thence went to Waukesha county, Wis- 
consin, where the father bought a farm of 
IflO acres, and coninuMiced farming. Iti 
1S4."> the father was stricken down by 
choh^ia and died, as iliil his wife, leaving 
their four children to buffet the world alone. 



The subjr( 1 nl our narrative, on the death 
of his parents, hired out to a party, and 
worked at liasket-making, butchering and 
farming, until the following winter, when he 
went to a Norwegian school, and was con- 
firmed in the Lutheran Church. In the 
spi'ing he removed to Winneshiek county, 
Iowa, where he took up a claim of 160 acres 
of land, and remained enjiaffed in farminf;' 
until the winter of 1S53. He then went to 
Kochester, Wisconsin, and there worked at 
wagon-making, having sold his chiim. Set- 
tling next at Spring Grove, Houston county, 
Minnesota, he there carried on farming and 
peddling, and, two years later, removed to 
Fillmore county, this State, and started a 
town, which he called Greenfield, and there 
entered the general merchandise business, 
and carried on a farm. This he followed 
one year, and for the nine succeeding years 
was engaged in farming in that locality. 
Selling out, he then removed to Belle Creek, 
(4oo(lhiu,' county, and in that i)lace carried 
on t'aiining and auctioneering, was justice of 
the ))eace ten years, and practiced law for 
fourteen years. During this time, in the 
years 1870 and 1S71, Mr. Ilusevold returned 
to his native country, and while there was 
made the agent for the Allan Line Steam- 
ship Company, and, as such an agent, he 
visited all the ])rincipal points in Noi'way. 
In 1870 he came to Stevens county, Minne- 
sota, and took a homestead on his present 
place. He has an excellent farm of 372 
acres of land, beautifully situated on the 
east bank of Moss Lake. The shores of the 
lake are covered with a dense, natural 
•rrowth of hard wood timber, and its waters 
abound with various species of fish. Mr. 
Husevold's buildings are of an excellent 
description, and are surrounded by a fine 
grove of natural and artificial timber. 

Afr. Ilusevold was married in January, 
1S.5('>, to Miss Turina Johnson, and by this 
union they are the parents of four daugh- 



49S 



sTF.r/-\s cocvrv. m/xx/-:sota. 



ters — Bertha, Hellena, Isabelle Turina and 
Gusta Josephine. 

In his politics our subject is a democrat, 
and is a prominent member of the party in 
this community. He is connected witli tiie 
Lutliei-an Churcli, and is an active and zeal- 
ous Christian gentleman. 



"■V* •( 



IMANTIAGO HITCHEN, a prosperous 
farmer of section 34, Moore town- 
ship, Stevens county, was born in Wilming- 
ton, New Castle county, Delaware, June 30, 
18-il. He is a son of James and Uena (Buch- 
anan) Hitchen, the father being a native of 
England, and the mother of Delaware. 
James came to the United States about 1830, 
and remained in the State of Delaware off 
and on for twent\' years. He was a cotton 
manufacturer, and died at ProTOlence, Rhode 
Island, in 1885, aged seventy-two years. 
He had lived where he died for nearly fifteen 
3^ears, and there was educated and also prac- 
ticed medicine. He was an invalid and con- 
fined to his bed for over a year prior to his 
death. The mother died at Clinton, Iowa, in 
1868. She was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. They had a family of six 
children — three of each sex — Sarah, "Wil- 
liam, James, Santiago, Uena and Grace Em- 
ett. Uena and James are deceased. 

Our subject attended the public schools at 
New Castle, Delaware, until he was fourteen 
years of age, in 185G. lie then mastered the 
trade of blacksmithing in Whiteside county, 
Illinois, and followed' his chosen trade for 
eighteen years. He next found employment 
at Clinton, Iowa, at forging, in the shop of 
the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. He 
remained in that position for seven years, 
after which lie went to Hudson, Wisconsin, 
wiiere, for four years more, he wielded the 
hammer bv the glowing forge. His health 
tiicn began to fail, and he came to Minnesota, 



in 1875, and located on section 34, Moore 
township, Stevens count}^ where he has 
remained to the present date. He obtained 
a 160 acre homestead and an eighty-acre tree 
claim, having a well improved farm of 240 
acres, in the garden spot of Minnesota. He 
does a general farming and stock-raising bus- 
iness, dealing quite largely in Durham and 
Holstein cattle and Cleveland Bay horses. 
He has the honor to be recorded in history 
as being the first settler on the broad prairie 
upon which he now lives. 

He was mari-ied September 20, 1869, to 
Amelia Dake. born in AValworth county, 
Wisconsin, October 9. 1853. She is the 
daughter of Martin and Phebe (York) Dake, 
who were natives of New Yoi'k and Connec- 
ticut, respectively. They are now both dead. 
The father enlisted in the Fourth Wisconsin 
Cavalry, and served for sixteen months, re- 
turning to Wisconsin, and died of disease 
contracted while in the service — only surviv- 
ing eight davs after he arrived at his home, 
in Walworth county. He left the field on 
"leave of al)sence" permit, but death can- 
celled his obligation, and his grave now marks 
the S})ot where another true and loyal man 
gave up his life for the flag of his country. 
He was a merchant and wheat buyer, and 
was greatl}" loved and esteemed by family 
and friends. The mother died in August, 
1886, being sixty-one years of age. She was 
a consistent Christian lady, and a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. Tiieir family con- 
sisted of seven children — three sons and four 
daughters — Henry, Charles, Julia, Eliza, 
Amelia, Emma and George. Henrv, Julia, 
and Emma are now dead. The wife of our 
subject, Amelia, attended the public schools 
in AValworth county, Wisconsin, until she 
was fourteen years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hitchen have two children — 
William and Uena Maud, ijoth still un- 
married and with their parents. 

In his political belief, our subject affiliates 



STEVENS COUXTV. MINNESOTA. 



499 



with the repubUcan party. lie lias bucn a 
loading- man in his count}', and been often 
elected to offices of much responsibility. He 
has been director of school district No. 17. 
anil still tills the office. lie has also been 
supervisor, overseer of the highways, justice 
of the peace, and other smaller offices. He is 
an exemplary Christian and a member of the 
ALethodist Episcopal Cimrch. At Clinton, 
Iowa, he belonged to the Indt-pendent Order 
of Odd-Fellows, and was Cbief of the Temp- 
erance Lodge at the same place for a term of 
four years, which gave him a wide circuit of 
acquaintances within that lodge district. 
During the war he served foui- months in the 
(iuartermaster"s department. 

As the reader traces tiiis worthy man's 
meanderings thus far in life's journey, they 
are ever and anon im})ressed with the idea 
that work, hard work, and persistence are 
the I'eal and true secrets to a successful life. 



-^^ 



^^►- 



T^ OBERT B. Mt ARTHUR, a prominent 
JL--^ farmer of Stevens county, Minnesota, 
is entitled to a place in this work, as he is a 
gentleman of sterling qualities, and through 
his untiring enei-gy and good management, 
lias secured for himself a fine farm home on 
section 12, of Hodges township. 

He is a Scotchman by birth, born in Perth 
Shire. Scotland, March 27, 183S. His par- 
ents, also natives of the same country, wei'e 
Robert and Ellen (hamont) ]\[cArthur. The 
father died in Scntland in 1S45, and tiie 
mother came to America, and died at Prince- 
ton, Minnesota, in ISO-i, at the home of her 
son, Robert B., who is the subject of this 
sketch, and who came to this countrv about 
1856. She was fifty-nine years old at iier 
death. She possessed all of those strong, 
yet truly womanlike graces found in so many 
Scotch women. In her religion, she was a 
Presbvterian. Tiie familv consisted of live 



chililren, four sons and one da u;^ liter, all of 
whom grew to manhood and womanhood. 
Tiiey were — Andrew, Robert B.. James, Alex- 
andcn- and Ellen. Andrew is now deceased, be- 
ing tlrowned on the Baltic Sea, together with 
the whole crew, some timetluring 18G5. lie 
was a married man, living in Scotland. 

Robert B. spent his boyhood and school 
days at Cooper, Angus, Scotland. He learned 
the baker's trade and followed the same, 
both in the old country and in Canada, com- 
ing to the United States in 1867, locating at 
Princeton, Minnesota, and remaining in that 
vicinitv for ten vears, enoa^ed at farniinor 
most of the time, but also taught school con- 
siderably. Fi'oni there he removed to Stevens 
county. Minnesota, and settled on his pres- 
ent place in Hodges township, and has been 
engaged at farming and i-aising stock ever 
since. 

Mr. McArthur was niarricnl in January, 
1860, to Miss Elizebeth Gray, a native of 
Scotland. She died in Stevens county, in 
1879. She was a faithful wife, a devout 
Christian lady, and a member of the Presb}'- 
terian Church. She was the mother of three 
sons aiul one daughter — John, Robert, An- 
drew and Nellie. The latter married A. B. 
Taylor, of Hodges township. Stevens count\-, 
and the sons are unmarried at this writing. 
Our subject was married again, April lo, 1884, 
to Miss Catharine Graham, who was also 
from Scotland, who came to this country in 
1884, and was married at Hancock, Stevens 
county. They have three children — James 
G., Graham and George F. 

In his political belief Mr. McArthur is a 
republican. It may be said to his credit that 
he has often been elected to offices, within 
the county in which he lives, including 
township treasurer, county commissioner, etc. 
He has been a prominent citizen in Stevens 
county, and carries with him that respect 
and irood will which onlv come for earnest 
and u|)right living. He is a regular attend- 



5O0 



STF.l'F..VS COUNTY, MIXXESOTA. 



ant at the Cong'reti'ational Church, and an 
exemplary citizen in ever\' way. 

Our subject's two sons, by liis former wife, 
are farmers in Stevens county, Andrew hav- 
ing 160 acres in Hodges township, on section 
1, and his brother Robert an equal amount 
on section 2. Both of these sons are unmar- 
ried. John, the other brother, farms during 
tlie summer time, and works at lumbering 
during the winter season. lie is also single, 
and is the oldest of tiie family. 



RIK P.DROVDALL, a highly respected 
'^^ farmer of Stevens i;ounty, living on 
section 2, of Synnes township, is a native of 
Norway, born December 26, 1838. He is a 
son of Peter and Maggie (Erickson) Olson, 
of Ts^orway. The mother came to Winona 
county, IMinuesota, in 1873, arriving in the 
town of Freemont, and died within sixhoui's 
afterwards. The father died in Norway, in 
July, 1871; he was a baker by trade. They 
had three children — Ole, Erik and one who 
died in infancy. Our subject spent his 
school days in the land in which he was 
boi-n up to the age of fourteen years, at 
which time he commenced to work at shoe- 
making, following the same for about five 
}'ears. He then shifted and learned the 
trade of blacksmithing, which he followed 
until he came to America, in 1869, landing 
in Quebec in the month of May. His trip 
from Christiania to Greene county, Wiscon- 
consin, consumed the time between the 16th 
of April and 14th of May, inclusive. He re- 
mained in that section, in Postville, for two 
years, working at Ijlacksmithing. 

In 1871 he went to Freemont, Winona 
county, Minnesota, where he worked at black- 
smithing on his own account until March, 
18T7, when he moved to Stevens county, and 
located on his ])resent ])lace, where he farms 
and raises stock. 



Mr. Drovdall was married, December 28, 
1862, to Miss Eanda Gilbertson, of Norway. 
She came to this country with her husband 
and two children — Gilbert and Mago-ie. 

In politics our subject is a prohibitionist 
above every other consideration. He has 
held different local offices, including justice 
of the peace and chairman of the board of 
supervisors, which place he now holds. 

Mr. and Mrs. Drovdall have two living 
children — Gilbert, born October 1,1868; and 
Maggie, born July 6, 1872; both of whom are 
confirmed in the Lutheran Church. Their 
children who are now deceased were as fol- 
lows — Maggie, born March 8, 1866, died in 
July, 1869; Jennie, br^rn in June, 1875, died 
same month ; and Peter, born July 2, 1878, 
died same dav. 



^^LIJAH P. WATSON, another of the 
Xfc^^ intelligent farmers of Stevens county 
who is justly entitled to a ]ilace in this 
Biographical Album, lives on section 17, 
Hodges township. 

He was born in Canada, November 19, 
18il. His parents were Joiin and Fannie 
(Pettinger) Watson, natives of England, who 
came to Canada in 1841, and remained until 
1855, at which date they moved to Goodhue 
county, Minnesota. They remained there 
until 1870 and then removed to Fall Eiver, 
Wisconsin. The mother died in 1866, and 
the father still resides at Fall River. He is 
a harness-maker by trade and follows the 
same at present. Thej' had eleven children 
in their family, of which our subject is the 
oldest. Those now living are Elijah, Charles 
IL, Clara J.. David W., Anna, Phebe, Fred 
J., Froome T. and Clemintine. 

Elijah P. spent his school days at Hamlin 
University, Red Wing, Minnesota, leaving 
the same in 1858. After leaving his studies 
he worked at harness-making for four j-ears, 



STFivws couxrr. .v/xxF.sor.i. 



501 



for other parties, and then commenced 
liarness making for himself at Red Wing, in 
1SC2, and followed the same until 1S77, 
except an interval of four years. The next 
five years of his life he spent at dairying, 
after which lie came to his present location 
in 1S82. 

He was married May 3, 1804. to Miss 
"NFary C. Cleveland, a native of Pliilaiieli)liia, 
Pennsylvania, receiving her libei-al eihicalion 
at that city and in Winona (Minnesota) 
Xormal School, completing the same at Tied 
Wing, however. 

Their children, six in number, are — Fannie 
E., Mary, Floi-ence, Mark H., Helen and 
Edwin J., all of whom except Fannie, who is 
married, now live at home with their 
parents. The daughter Fannie has taught 
school several seasons, and is a graduate of 
the High Schools, both at St. Paul and 
]\rorris, Minnesota. 

When Mr. Watson first located in Stevens 
county in 1882, he was acting as numager 
for the " Pleasant View Stock Farm " for R. 
0. Jefiferson, of St. Paul, who had 2,00(i 
acres of land in one body, all in Hodges 
township. The place has a large farm house 
and three very spacious, well-built barns, 
42x112 feet in size, with ])osts twenty feet 
high, also basement, suitable for 100 
head of stock, with a cajiacity of 250 
tons of hay. Then there are smaller barns, 
for hoi-se.*, 32x.50 feet, with wings, making 
the whole a very large barn, which with an 
attachment, holds 100 horses. The cattle 
barn is 20x40 feet, with wing on either 
side, giving ample room for fifty head of cattle 
in stables.besides room for seventy-five calves. 
The sheep barn, another excellent buikling, 
is 32x90 feet in size. The machine and 
wagon shed is 2.5x100 feet, and a chicken 
barn is 14x2(1 feet. The place is pro- 
vided with an ice house, twenty feet square, 
and sixteen feet high. The residence cost 
$3,0U0, and is in the midst of a five acre 



grove of artificial timber, containing over 
5,000 tlirifty trees. The stock raised on this 
fine farm are mostly Ilerefords, with fifteen 
full blood Jerseys. 

Our subject has a well-impi'oved, finelv 
located farm of some 2,500 acres, lie has a 
horse barn, which is 32x50 feet, capable of 
holding twenty-four horses. This, together 
with an addition, was erected at an expense 
of $1,000. The residence is 16x24, with an 
addition 14x28, costing $800. Besides, he 
has a fine ice house and creamery room, 
14x20 feet. He has about 200 acres under 
cultivation, and usually has about sixtv head 
of cattle on his place, which are full-blood 
Jersey stock. 

In politics ilr. Watson is a republican, and 
always takes a lively intei-est in all which 
concerns the best interests of his county and 
State. He is now school treasurer of district 
No. 8. He belongs to the orders of Odd 
Fellows and United Workmen ; is also an ac- 
coptidjle member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

In conclusion, it may be said that the 
father of our subject made the first set of 
harness made in Goodhue county, Minnesota, 
the date being the lall of 1855. For four 
generations back this family has had a son 
named John, all of whom have been hai-ness 
makers bv trade. 



--5-. 



i^HARLES J. CROONQUIST, a mer. 
'^y chant of Morris village, is a native of 
Sweden, born January 22, 1855. He re- 
mained in his native land untiliie was sixteen 
years of age, attending school and working 
on his father's farm during this time. In 
1S71, he came with a younger brother to the 
United States and settled in St. Paul, where 
they remained one year. Charles then 
woiked for some time for the Ehvood Har- 
vester Works, after whicii he was taken down 



502 



STKr/£NS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



sick. In 1873 lie went to Minneapolis and 
worked there for one year, coining tlien to 
Morris, where he remained a short time and 
again went to the " Twin Cities," later 
returned to Morris and establisiied iiis ])res- 
ent liusiness. 

Mr. Croonqnist was married November 27, 
1877, to Miss Iledin, and they have a family 
of seven children. ]\rr. Croonquist is a 
member of the (Jdd-Fellows' fraternity, 
Ancient Order of United Workmen and 
other social societies. 



-«-. 



JpfRITZ BUCKENTIN,. druggist of Morris 
Jb^ village, is a native of German}^, born in 
IJerlin April 1-t, ISOO. He remained at home 
until he was fourteen years of age, at which 
time he entered a drug store. He followed 
that vocation until 1878, when he entered the 
German army, serving four years, and re- 
ceiving ins discharge October 1, 1882. Soon 
after he immigrated to the United States, 
coming dire(.'t to Minnesota, arriving in Mor- 
ris, November 24, 1882. During the winter 
of 1882 and 1883, Fritz attended school, and 
in tlie following spring he engaged as a farm 
hand. In the fall of 1883 he went to Ter- 
ham, Minnesota, and secured work in an ele- 
vator, and worked in that work until the 
spring of 1883. He then entered into part- 
nership with his brother Max, in the drug 
business at Morris. Max Buckentin's death, 
in February. 1885, left Fritz the sole proprie- 
torship, and he has since carried on the busi- 
ness. 



k J- STEBBINS, of Morris, is a member 
of the firm of Hancock & Stebbins, 
grocers. Mr. Stebbins was born at Winona, 
Minnesota, August 7, 1862, and is a son of 
J. B. and Maria S. Stebbins. His parents 



were earl}' settlers in Winona county, liav 
ing located there in 1857, ■mvX still live 
there. 

Our subject, S. J. Stebbins, grew to man- 
hood in his native county, receiving his ed- 
cation in the common schools, and also at- 
tended one term at the La Crosse Business 
College. He started in life for himself when 
about nineteen years of age, and for about 
eighteen months clerked in a hardware store 
at Rochester. At the expiration of that time 
he went back to Winona,, where he followed 
the same line of business until 18S-t, when he 
came to Morris and became clerk in the 
Metropolitan Hotel. In 1886 he engaged 
in the grocery trade in company with his 
present partner, F. A. Hancock, and the busi- 
ness has since been carried on under the tirm 
name of Hancock & Stel)bins. 

Mr. Stebbins is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity. 



John H. EKMAN. a iirominent and ener- 



i^ getic farmer of the town of Donnelly, 
has his home on section 20, where he owns 
160 acres of land, seventy-five of which are 
under cultivation. He has a neat and tasty 
residence, a roomy and comfortable barn and 
other out-buildings, all of which he erected 
himself. When he came to this county, in the 
spring of 1887, he bought the claim of a 
widow to the homestead where he now lives, 
paying her the sum of $500. No improve- 
ments were made on the place at that time, 
except that some fourteen acres of the land 
were broken. All the balance is due to his 
own energy, diligence and a desire to have 
ever^'thing around him in a comfortable 
condition. 

Mr. Ekman was born in Sweden, in the 
village of Lingskoping, June 28, 1862, and 
is the son of Charles and Ida Ekman, na- 
tives of that countrv. The father of our 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



503 



suhjcft (lied when the latter was but two 
years old. and he was taken by his grand- 
fatiier. and raised by iiini until lie was seven- 
teen yeai's of age. He received the educa- 
tion that is tiie due of every youth in the 
land of his birth, and on attaining niaturer 
years, in 1879, came to this country with 
some friends. 

On arriving in the " land of the free," 
Mr. Ekman located in the city of Galesburg, 
Illinois, and was there employed in the rail- 
road shops, and on the road. He remained 
there for two years, and then came to St. 
Paul, and was in the employ of the North- 
western Elevator Company for five years. At 
the expiration of that time became to Stevens 
county, and settled on the ])lace where he 
now lives. 

The subject of this sketch was united in 
uuirriage, in April, 1885, with Miss Anna 
Anderson, in the city of St. Paul. They are 
the happy parents of one child (living) — 
llanning, who was born April 28, 1886, and 
one child (deceased), Jonas, who was born 
October 25, 1S87, and died February It. 1888. 

Mr. Ekman is a consistent membei' of the 
Lutheran Church, and is a zealous woi-ker in 
the cause of religion. He is a rei)ublican in 
his politics, and a leading man in the com- 
munity. 



/•^ UGENE DAY, a well known and highly 
V^^ resjiected farmer of section 1, Pends- 
ville township, Stevens county, Minnesota, is 
a native of Menomonie, Wisconsin, i)orn 
November 1, 1857. lie is the son of Joseph 
and Eliza (McGary) Day. He received his 
education in a common school and in a rather 
limited way. He s|)ent eleven wintei"s in the 
pineries and at log driving. He came to 
Minnesota ]\Iay 22, 1870, and engaged at 
work near Donnelly. In the spring of 1886 
he settled where he now lives, buying 160 



acres of land, one-half of which he jiut into 
small grain and corn. 

j\[r. Day was married to Anna Gray, 
November 12, 1884, at Morris, Minnesota. 
By this union two children have been born — 
Josephene, born January 15, 1886, and Harrv> 
born September 16, 1887. I5y energy and 
tact our subject has made foi- himself, in this, 
his adopted State,a beautiful home, and seems 
well pleased with the future jirospectsof the 
State in which he lives. 

In politics !Mr. Day is a republican. 



•«"J^J^-«— - 



I^LEWELLYN DENNISON PERKINS, 



IBi^ ' one of tlie leading and representative 
farmers and stock-raisers of Stevens county, 
is a resident of section 19, Swan Lake town- 
ship. He was born in Franklin cf)unty, 
]\Iaine, December 22, 1852, and is a son of 
Jonathan E. and Llannah (Judkins) Perkins. 
At the age of five years he moved with his 
father to Ped Wing. ]\[inncsota, and always 
lived at home, attending school and helping 
on the home farm. In the year 1875 our 
subject commenced the struggle of life for 
himself, and he at once came to Stevens 
county and bought 330 acres of land in Swan 
Lake township, on sections 19 and 30. It 
was almost wholly wild land, there being 
but thirty acres under cultivation. He paid 
s2.nnO for it. and has made it one of the 
finest farms in the county. 

On the 28th of March, 1878. ]Mr. Perkins 
was united in marriage to Jfiss Pert ha Ol- 
son, of Grant county, Minnesota. and (laugh- 
ter of Ole and Anna Olson. She was liorn 
December 12. 1855, and by her union to Mr. 
Perkins has been blessed with the billowing 
children— Charles, Orville. Hannah, Anna 
and George, all of whom are living at home. 
Mr. Perkins is a man of the strictest \mw)\- 
and integrity, highly esteemed by all who 
know him. He has taken an active and 



504 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



prominent part in all matters jiertaining to 
educational or public affairs, and, while not 
seeking olTice, he has held various local posi- 
tions, such as supervisor, school treasurer, 
etc. In political matters as well as in per- 
sonal character and every day life, he is a 
prohibitionist. 

Mr. Perkins is one of the most successful 
farmers in the northern part of the count}', 
and is rated as one of the most substantial 
citizens of the township in which he lives. 
He devotes a great deal of attention tostock- 
raising, and has the largest herd of cattle in 
the town of Swan Lake. 



.■^^ 



^^^^ 



>T:^TaNS OLE BORLED.a farmer, residing 
Xr \. in Scott township, was boi'n in Eisd- 
vold, Norway, October 22, 1823. lie re- 
mained with his parents until he was about 
twenty-eight years of age, and then for a 
nuiidjer of years was engaged in raih'oad 
work. In \%m he came to the LTnited States 
and lirst stopped in Fillmore county, Minne- 
sota. One year later he came to Stevens 
county, and settled upon a homestead in 
Scott township, where he has since lived. 

Mr. Borled was married, in 1859, to Carrie 
Johanna Olson, and they became the parents 
of the following children — Ole C, Paulina 
(deceased) ; Paulina, Corrin A. and Andreas. 

Our subject is a Lutheran in religion and 
a I'epublican in ])olitics. 



^■^>- 



.^-..RVILL SEMANS, one of the oldest and 
^^^i^ most highly respected settlers of 
Stevens county, is a resident of section 21. 
I'ejiperton. lie was born at Saratoga 
Springs, New Voi'k. January Ifi. 1827. and 
remnined at his birthplace until he was ten 
years of age. He then moved with his par- 
ents to Geauga count}', Ohio, and lived with 



them until he was sixteen years old, when he 
commenced life for himself by learning the 
joiner's and buihier's trade, at which he was 
an apprentice for a period of five years. He 
returned to his native city, Saratoga S})rings, 
in 1816, and worked at his trade in that place 
for a period of thirty-one years. In 1875 he 
came to Stevens county, Minnesota, and took 
a Government claim on section 24, Pepper- 
ton township, where he has since remained. 
Mr. Semans was one of the earliest settlers in 
the township, there being no houses in sight, 
when he erected his residence. In the fall 
of 1875 he built a house, but shortly it was 
destroyed by fire. He was not discouraged, 
but erected another building, and June 29, 
1877, this building was demolished by a 
western cyclone. The afternoon was sultry, 
the ail- stifling, and along about two o'clock 
those peculiar, twisting clouds, which so dis- 
tinguish the terrible storm they forebode, 
banked up in the heavens. Mr. Semans, 
realizino: the coming- danger, took refuge 
with his family in the cellar, and none too 
soon, for the storm was soon upon them. The 
awful wrecks which these storms produce 
need not be spoken of in this connection — 
they are known to all — and it is sufficient to 
say that all that remained of his once beauti- 
ful place was what could be picked up in 
fragments on the prairie. Again, Mr. 
Semans erected buildings, and now has a 
well-improved ('arm of 320 acres, 200 acres 
under culivation, with good residence and 
other buiJdino's nestled in a dense grove of 
his own planting. 

Mr. Semans was married in March, 1851, 
to Miss JFary Hare, of Herkimer county. 
New York, and they have been IJessed with 
the following children — Eureta (now J\lrs. 
Xoel) and Kate (now Mrs. Konchal), both 
of whom reside at Herman, Grant county, 
Minnesota, and one son, Fred, who is still at 
home. 

The subject of this article is a man of great 



STF.VfWS COUiVrV. Ar/.VXESOT.-I. 



505 



honor and integriU' and is highl\' esteemed 
l)y all wlio know liini. He takes an active 
interest in all [luhlic and educational matters, 
and was the first cliairinan of the hoard of 
supervisors in ids town, lie was here when 
the township was oi-ganized, in winch he 
took an active part in the same, and held 
a position on the hoard of su])ervisors for 
two years. 

i\rr. Scnians owns two i;ootl residenc(!S — ■ 
one in town, where he lives during the rigor- 
ous winters, and the otlier on tlie farm. 

In political matters Mr. Semans does not 
feel bound by the dictates of any part}', but 
is independent, voting for the best man 
rather than for creed. 



,-^^ 



lOSEPH W. PUSHOR, a resident of Mor- 
ris township, Stevens county, now living 
on section 18, will form the subject of this 
l)iogra](hical sketch. He is a native of Pen- 
obscot county, Maine; was born Augusts, 
1837. His parents were Peter and Ilannaii 
C. (Morse) Pushor, also natives of Maine. 
Up to the time Joseph W. was twenty-one 
years old he attended school and labored at 
times on his fatiiers fai'ui ; afterward he 
followed milling and farming, for himself. 
In 1872 he went to Minneapolis, and that 
winter woiked in the big woods, and in the 
spring went back to !Maine, remaining until 
fall, then, came back to Minnesota, stopping 
at the City of Minneapolis again, working at 
huni)ering there until 1881, and then went to 
Stevens county, where he claimeil a home- 
stead of eighty acres and went to farming, 
whci'e he now lives. 

Mr. Pushor was nuirried Jamuiry 12, 1S<>1, 
to Helen M. Ileald, who died in 1878. The 
fruits of this union were live children, all of 
whom are still living. Air. Pushor was mar- 
ried to ills second wife, in jS'ovember, I860 



and she died in April, 1888, leaving five chil- 
dren, only one of whom is now living. 

Our subject is a re]>ublican in his political 
belief and a i)ublic-spirited man, bearing the 
highest esteem of all with whom he mingles. 
His earlv advantajies afforded him a good 
comnuju school education. He has passed 
through much famil}' trouble and sad bereave- 
ment, in the loss of two companions. By 
constant industry he now possesses a good 
home, in one of the; finest agricultural dis- 
tricts in the State of Alinnesota. He owns a 
valuable farm, with good ini|)rovements, con- 
taining 240 acres, and carries on an extensive 
grain and stock-growing business. In |)oliti- 
cal matters Mr. Pushor is a reinibliean. 



.««: 



«^> 



J^ERRY RATHBUN, one of Stevens 
J^ county's sturd}^ farmers, living on 
section 20, Horton township, was l)orn 
March 7, 1857, at Hesper, Fillmore county, 
Minnesota. Of his parentage little isknown, 
as he was taken by Dorr Rathbun, when only 
three months old. He lived with him in 
Fillmore county, Alinnesota, until he was 
twenty-nine yeai-s old. At the age of eleven 
years he moved, with his guardian, to Pope 
county. Minnesota, and remained with the 
family, receiving his education, priiicipally 
in Pope county. 

He was nuirried March 7, ISSfi, to Miss 
Eva M. Shaw, born in Dane county, Wis- 
consin, in 18G8. She is the daughter of John 
11. and Mary A. < Harrington 1 Shaw. The 
father was born upon the ocean, and the 
mother in Illinois and is now living at Litch- 
lield, Minnesota. Their children were Kva, 
Phillip, John. Maud, and Kliza, Daniel 
(deceased), Phillip (deceased), and Angeline 
(deceased). 

Our subject and his wife are the jiarenls of 
two children— Viola C ami William P. 



5o6 



STF.VF.VS COUNTY, M/XXESOTA. 



In politics Mr. Rathbun is ii republican. 

He is a leading citizen, and has held 
several offices of public trust, such as school 
clei'k eight years, constable six years (in 
Pope county), etc. He came to his present 
place in 1887, locating on a quarter section 
of land. He carries on a paying farm and 
stock-growing business. 

Mr. Rathbun, to a large extent, secured 
his present start in life in the threshing 
business. He followed this occupation for 
about eight years in Pope county, and when 
he came to Stevens county, he sold his 
horse-power threshing machine, and has 
since devoted his attention exclusively to his 
farming interests. 



^^. 



|.^''-i\ENNlS HENNESSY,a prominent farmer 
Jt^y of Darnen township, was born in 
Ireland in 1855. He remained there until 
sixteen years of age, when he -went to Wales 
and engaged as a workman in a rolling mill. 
After about four years at this service he 
crossed the ocean, came to Troy, New York, 
and there remained until 1875, then came 
to Stevens county, Minnesota. Here he 
took up his present farm of 160 acres on 
section 26, of Darnen township, and built a 
shanty, planted trees and did other work 
towards securing for himself a neat and pay- 
ing farm home. Like many another pio- 
neer, this man has jiassed a hard experience 
in many ways. The first year Mr. Ilennessy 
broke twenty acres, which the following 
year was put into a crop, and an additional 
twent\' acres broken up. The twenty acres 
cropped cost him $220, and from the same 
he realized $25.00, it having been destroyed 
by the grasshoppers. The next year he met 
with about the same trouble, but, full of hope. 
ami)ition and genuine pluck, he still re- 
nuiined steadfast on the land he had selected 
for his home; he kept on making improve- 



ments, so that now he is reaping his well 
earned reward, by being the possessor of a 
finely improved farm with a good and thrifty 
gi'ove of timber, which his own hands 
planted out when he first broke sod in the 
new Northwest. His farm has ample build- 
ings, and is well supplied with water both 
for domestic and stock purposes. 

Ever since the organization of the town- 
ship he has taken an active part in jiol- 
itics. He has served in tlie capacity of some 
township officer all but one year since the 
formation of the township. He was twice 
elected as supervisor, and is still holding that 
office. 

Mr. Henness}' was mari-ied, September 3, 
1879, to Miss Margret Doherty, of Kandi- 
yohi county, who was born in "\Yatertown, 
Wisconsm. Her parents removed from that 
State in the earlj'^ historj^ of the county, 
coming here overland from Wisconsin. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ilennessy have a family of four in- 
telligent children, as follows — John, ilichael, 
Dennis and Joseph. 

Mr. Ilennessy is a member of the Ancient 
Order of Hibernians, Division No. 1, of 
Stevens count v. 



ri^YMAN S. BURLING.4ME, oneof Stevens 
V^} county's most influential citizens, is 
residing on section 22, Eldorado township. 
lie is a native of Vermont, born in Benning- 
ton, April 29, 1833, and is a son of Lyman 
and Mahetable (Nurse) Burlingame, who 
were natives of the same State. Lyman re- 
mained at home with his parents until he 
was fifteen years of age, when he attended 
an academy until he was twenty years old, 
and then commenced life for himself by 
establishing a sash and door factor}' in Au- 
gusta, New York. He remained in this busi- 
ness for three years, when he went to Brook- 
lvn,New York,and worked in a sash and door 



STF.l'FAS COU.VrV, MINNESiOTA. 



factory for five years. Going from there to 
Rociiester, Xew York, he engaged in liis 
old occupation for another five years, and 
then came to Chicago, Illinois, where he 
secured the position of foreman in a similar 
factory, for Cobb, (4age ifc Comjiany, at 
wliiclv he was occupied until the war broke 
out. At tlie first signal of civil strife he 
went into the service with a construction 
corps, ascarpenter, and remained at this untd 
peace was restored. In 1866 he went to 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and worked for 
about one }'car fen- AVlieaton & licnolds in 
his old business. The next five years fnuiul 
him employed in various establishments, the 
greater part of the time as a mill-wi'ight, 
after which he journej^ed to California. He 
remained in tiiat beautiful countiy for si.x 
months engaged as a car[)enter, and again 
went to Minneapolis, and after six months' 
sojourn in that ]ilace, returned to California, 
with his wife. Having secured the position 
of foreman for II. Barnes in a sash and door 
factory in that countr\% he and his wife re- 
mained there for the next two years. He 
soon had to return on account of his health, 
and after staying a short time in MinneapoHs, 
he came to Stevens county, and took aiiome- 
stead of eighty acres on section 22, Eldoratlo 
township, where his family have since re- 
mained. For the next three years he 
wcjrked at his trade in Fergus Falls, and I)as- 
sel, Minnesota, and various places in Dakota, 
staying in each j)lace only a short time. 

]\Ir. llurlingame was married to ^liss Mar- 
garet L. Dixon, Novemijer 14, 1S.")2, and his 
estimable wife passed away to her reward 
October 2, 1S62, leaving her husband and 
three children to mourn her loss. The chil- 
dren were — Edwin, married to Miss Kate 
Klouston and now lives in the Black Hills, 
Dakota Territory ; Margaret A., is married 
to Mr. Baldwin and lives in Minneapolis; 
Frank is married and lives in Minneapolis. 

The marriage of our subject occurred the 



second time, March 4, 1876, to Mrs. Hanson, 
the widow of Levi Hanson, who died in the 
army, and by whom she had four children- 
Lucy (deceased), Ella (deceased), Laura and 
Roster. His second wife died January 4, 
1886, and our subject was united in marriage 
the third time. Decendjer 1, 1SS7, to Mrs. 
Carrie Russel, the widow of Stephen Towle, 
by whom she had two children — Carrie and 
one deceased. 

In the fall of 1886 our subject lost twenty 
tons of hay l)y fii'e. and the same fall he lost 
his cro[) by hail. He is a re|n-e.sentative man 
of his townsliii), and has held all of the town- 
ship offices at various times. In political 
matters he affiliates with the democratic 
part}'. 



^'!^^ARS RASMUSSON, came to Stevens 

'^ county , in 1874, and settled on section 
10 of Hodges township. He now owns a fine 
farm and holds the respect of all who know 
him. 

He was born in Norway, January 1, 1851. 
His parents were Rasmus and ^lartlia (Jorg- 
en) Larson, who came to the United States in 
1862, being nearly three months coming over 
the ocean. They landed at Quebec, Canada, 
and from there went to Wisconsin, wliere 
they remained a short time, and then went to 
Goodhue county, Minnesota. They bought 
land, and are still living there on their farm. 

Our subject, Lars Rasmusson. came from 
Goodhue to Stevens county, taking u]) a 
homestead of 160 acres in Hodges townshiji 
on the shores of Long Lake, a pretty water 
sheet, which affords splendid fishing. The 
familv of which he was a son were the fol- 
lowing named — Jfary. Lars. George, Ida, 
Toreva, Caroline and Ole. All are residents 
of Minnesota. George is in business in 
Stevens county. 

Lars, our subject, spent his school days in 



5o8 



STEVE.VS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



Norway and (Toodhue county, Minnesota, 
and worked out until he came to his present 
place. 

Mr. Rasmusson was mai'ried in October, 
1874, to Miss JacobenaChristoplierson, a na- 
tive of Norway, who came to America in 
1873. Mr. and ifrs. Rasmusson have six 
children — Martina. Rasmus, Cena, Christian, 
Eda and Laura — all living at home. 

In politics Mr. Rasmusson is a republican, 
and has been elected to the office of road- 
muster over district No. 5. In his religious 
belief and profession he is a Lutiieran. 



LIGENE W. RANDALL, the former 
editor and ])ropi'ietor of the Morris 
Trihnne. is now engaged in farming on sec- 
tion -29, Darnen township. He was born in 
Winona, Minnesota, January 1, 1859, and is 
the son of Albert D. and Maria (Jayne) 
Randall. His paternal ancestors were among 
the earliest settlers on Long Island, New 
Tork, and were the possessors of a grant 
from tiie king to a part of that isle. The 
Jaynes date their descent to some of that 
name who were enrolled among the pass- 
engers on l)oard the historic " Mayflower," 
that landed on the bleak New England coast 
in December, 1620, and there planted the 
seeds of civil and religious liberty that were 
the source of our national independence. 
Both of his parents were natives of New 
York, the father of Suffolk countv, and the 
mother of Kings. 

The father of the subject of this sketch 
brought his family to Minnesota in 1855, 
and made his home in Winona until 1859, 
when he removed to Louisiana, but shortly 
after his arrival there he \v;is taken sick and 
died, and his disconsolate widow and her 
orphaned cliihlren returned to Winona 
county, Minnesota. Eugene was reared upon 
a farm, and di'ew his pi-iniary education 



from the district schools of that locality. 
At the age of sixteen he went to St. Charles, 
and there attended the High School for a 
short time. Failing health compelled his 
return to the maternal roof, much against 
his wishes, for he had high ambitions. Dur- 
ing the next fall he taught the school in the 
district in which he lived, and. after tlie 
term was over, entered the Normal School 
at Winona, where he remained until 
graduation, in 1879. In the latter part of 
that year he came to Stevens countv, and 
for a time, in accordance ^vith the advice of 
his physician, followed out-door labor. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1879-80 he taught a winter 
term of school in the county, and in the 
following spring, having regained his health, 
he entered upon his duties as principal of 
the public schools of Morris. This trying 
and arduous position he held for two years, 
and in that time raised the school from an 
ordinary village institution to the i-equisite 
grade to bring it under the requirements 
necessary to become a State high school, 
and entitle it to the annual allowance of 
§;400 made by the State to all those coming 
\\\> to a certain standard. It is due, to a 
very large extent, to Mr. Randall and his 
efforts that Morris has so excellent educa- 
tional institutions, and the community give 
him the credit. When he first presented 
his resignation, as he wished to take cliarge 
of the Tribune, which he had yiurchased, 
the board would not listen to it a moment, 
but were finally prevailed upon to accept 
it, as he felt that he could do more for the 
community in the editorial chair. 

After taking charge of the Trihune, Mr. 
Randall materially improved it, both editor- 
ially and mechanically, until it became one 
of the best journals in this ]iortion of the 
State. It was formerly what is known as 
a "patent inside" paper, but under his hands 
it grew to be an all-at-home-printed paper 
and entirely local in its make-up. In 1888 



STF.Vr-:XS COUf^TY, AfmNESOTA. 



500 



Mr. llandall sold out. and is now residing 
ujion his farm. 

Mr. Randall and Miss Dora Stone were 
united in marriage, Mai'ch 16, 1S82, and they 
have a family of three children — Clarence, 
Ward and Frank. Mrs. llandall is the 
daughter of lion. IT. W. Stone, of Stevens 
county, and is a native of ^linncsota. The 
subject of our sketch is a member of the 
various Masonic lodges of Morris, also of 
the AVorknuMi and of the Select Knights. 

|VbRAHAM W. WHEELOCK, an intclli- 
r-'NjL gent and successful farmer, located on 
section 34, Moore township, Stevens count\% 
is a native of Xova Scotia, born in that 
j)rovince, June 1, 1838. His parents were 
named Joseph and Mercy (Whitman) Whee- 
lock, both of whom died in the land in which 
they were reared — Xova Scotia. They were 
the parents of eleven children, ^f r. Wlieelock, 
of whom we speak in this sketch, being the 
third born to them. His younger years 
were s])ent in gaining an education in 
Annapolis county. Nova Scotia. lie received 
a good practical education, and at the age of 
eighteen years, he left the school room and 
departe<l for the city of Boston, "Massachu- 
setts, where he remained ten years as a clerk 
in a wholesale grocery store. He then spent 
another year of his life in his native country, 
and then came to Ramsey county, Minnesota. 
He remained only one year, when the sound of 
Indian warfare met his eai-s, and he enlisted 
in the Independent Battalion, serving two 
years and a half, as (juartermaster sergeant, 
participating in several hotlv contested 
battles with the Indians. He was mustered 
out of service at Fort Snelling. ilinnesota, in 
the sjirinof of 1863. After he left the service 
as a soldier he went West on an e.\|)edition 
in jrold niininji: in the A'ermiliion Ranyc and 
Xortiiern Minnesota. Tiiis consumed about 



one year, after which he went to railroading 
on the St. Paul & Duluth line, remaininjr at 
that for two years. His next change was to 
that of a railroad contractor, for the Lake 
Superior vt Xorthern Pacilic Companies, 
which he followed for a year or more, and 
then he became a timber contractor, m Xorth- 
ern Wisconsin, I'emainod there two years, 
and then visited the scenes of his childhood, 
in Nova Scotia, fortibout another year. In 
1875, he came to Stevens county, Minnesota, 
having taken up land two years previous to 
this date, in Moore township. His first 
tract was a quarter section, and he after- 
wards increased it b\' the purchase of an 
equal amount, making a half section in all. 
He rents his place, and stays in St. I'aul 
winters mostly. 

In politics, our subject has always been a 
staunch republican. 



►^^ 



JOHN ERICKSON, a hardware dealer of 
the village of Hancock, was born Jlay '.'. 
1848, in Norway, and is the son of Erick T. 
Engon, a farmer. In 1S49 his jiarents came 
this country and located in Dane county, 
Wisconsin. They lived there until 1884, 
when the father djed, and where the mother 
still lives. 

Our subject, at the age of fourteen, left 
the schools of Dane county and went to 
Madison, where he engaged at various kinds 
of work. He reinained in JIadison about 
four years, when became to ^linnesota. He 
located in Hancock in 1874, where he lias 
since remained. He soon engaged in the 
lumber business with Ole Brevig, and later 
tiiey established a hardware store, which they 
conducted for seven years. Then they dis- 
solved, and our subject has since lun the 
business alone. 

Mr. F^i'ickson was married in ilarch. 1878, 
to Miss Flora T. Comstock, a native of 



^/•jETEXS county, MINNESOTA. 



Maine. They are the pai'ents of four cliil- 
dren — Andrew, John, Belle, and Harold, all 
livino- with their parents. Mr. Erickson is a 
republican in })olitical matters, and is a 
memijer of the Congregational Church. 



,?[aMES BRENNAN, an enterprising farmer 
^ of Stevens county, li\'ing on section 26, 
of Synnes township, was born in Ramsey 
county at St. Paul. June 13, 1850. lie is 
the son of Peter and Mary Brennan, natives 
of Ii'eland. They were married in Canada. 
The father immigrated to the [Tnited States, 
wdien a young man, locating in Dakota 
ccjunty. Minnesota, after spending some 
time in Canada. \\& still lives at Lakeville, 
Minnesota, on his farm, which has been his 
life business. The mother died in 1881. 
She was a devout member of the Poman 
Catholic Church. They had eleven chil- 
dren — five boys and six girls, James being 
the oldest; the living children are — James, 
Lawrence, Mary, Thomas and Susan. Mar- 
gret died at Lakeville. when thirteen 3'ears of 
age; Julia died at the same place, aged four 
years ; Peter was about thirteen years of 
age, when he died at Eagantown, Minnesota; 
Rose and Julia (second) died at Eagantown 
and Mary died at Mendota. 

James, who is the subject of this sketch, 
attended school at Eagantown, tinisliing his 
education there at the age of seventeen years. 
After receiving a good. i)ractical education, 
he spent two years on his father's farm and 
then went to work on the Lake Superior 
Railroad, remaining two years. He again 
farmed at home, continuing until 1876, when 
became to Stevens county, and in the month 
of March, that year, took up a homestead on 
section 26 of S^'nnes township, as before 
described. He now owns 480 acres and is 
doing an extensive farm and stock business, 



has fiftv head of half-blood Durham cattle 
and many fine Norman liorses. 

Mr. Brennan was married, Februaiy 2, 
1881, to Miss Elizebeth Finnegan, a native of 
Lakeville, Dakota county, Minnesota. She 
is the daughter of John Finnegan, and was 
educated and married in the county in which 
she was born. They have four children — 
Mary, Lizzie, James and Agnes. One child, 
named John, died in infancy. 

In his political belief our subject is a dem- 
ocrat. He has frequently Iteen favored with 
local offices ; now holding the office of treas- 
urer of school district No. 29, having been 
first elected in 1883. He has also been town- 
ship treasurer, for eight years — ever since 
the township has had an organization. In 
each and every office he has proved himself 
more than capable, and is rated as one of the 
most intelligent and substantial farmers in 
the southern part of the county. He belongs 
to the Hibernian Society at Morris, and 
stands high in the esteem of all. 



^HARLES O. ANDERSON, a prominent 
^P member of the farming community of 
Donnelly township, living on section 29, was 
born in Elfsborgs Lan, Sweden, January 19, 
1S.j6, and is the son of Anders and Christine 
(Peterson) Anderson. He was reared upon 
his father's farm and received an excellent 
education, l)y ]n-ivate instruction, both in his 
native land and in Germanv. He spent his 
time in assisting to carry on the farm and in 
study until he was about eighteen vears of 
age, after which he applied himself to the 
duties of life entirely. 

In 1880 Mr. Anderson left the home of his 
ancestors and crossed the ocean to the United 
States, and upon his arrival in this country 
located in Hardin county, Iowa, where he 
worked in a brick j-ard. Three months later 



sr/;r/-\\\s couxrv. Minnesota. 



5>i 



he removed to ]\Iiuneapolis, ami was there en- 
gaged in railroad work until fall. In the 
early winter he went to Denver, Colorado, 
and in that i)lace and vicinity he found em- 
ployment until January', 1882, when he went 
to Chicago, Illinois, to meet Miss Louisa 
Olivia Larson, \\\^fiancc'e from the old coun- 
tiy, to whom he was united in marriage, 
June Ifi, 1SS3. On meeting the lady he took 
her to St. Paul, where he left her and came 
to Domu'Iiy, bought 200 aci'os of railroad 
land and took a tree claim of forty acres 
more. lie went to work on the railroad 
construction near Mori'is and continued in 
that employment until fall. lie was then 
transferred to Hudson, Wisconsin, and acted 
as baggage master here until July, 1883, 
when he came to this count}' and settled on 
his farm, where he has been ever since. 

Mrs. Anderson is a native of Sweden, born 
December 11, 1857, and is the daughter of 
John and Ella Larson. Ey their union ]\Ir. 
and ]Mrs. Anderson are the parents of two 
children — Agnes Emily, born June 6, 18S4, 
and Elmer Oscar, born Februar\' 18, 18S8. 

The subject of this memoir is a prohibi- 
tionist in his politics, and has held the offices 
of town suporvisoi' and school director and 
treasurer. He is a membei- of the prohibi- 
tion club of Morris and an inlluential citizen 
of the comraunitv in which he resides. 



%^^^ 



^«^ 



BOCTOR H. L. HULBURD, a successful 
pi'actitioner in Mori-is, is a native of 
St. Lawrence county, New York, born in 
1^51. lie entered Lawrenceville Academy 
and graduated in IhG'J. lie then entered 
Oberlin College, and. aftei- remaining thi-re 
two years, entered Long Island College Hos- 
pital, Brooklyn, New York, graduating in 
18"."). Immediately after graduating lie 
moved to Prescott, Wisconsin, where he 
opened an office, and after practicing for two 



years he moved to Morris, Minnesota, and 
has since been engaged in his profession. He 
has held the office of coroner, and attended 
to the county work. He is a mend^erof the 
Masonic fraternity, also a mendjer of the 
Congregational Church. 



"«►> 



#3HN G. HVII.E. one ol the prominent 
and representative farmers of Stevens 
county, resides on section 28, Framiias town- 
ship, where he has a well cultivattjd farm of 
160 acres. He is of Scandinavian birth and 
parentiige, having l)een i)orn in Norway, 
February 21, 18-17, and is the son of Gunnuf 
J. and Betsey (BiJen) H vile. He was reared 
in the land of his nativity until 1859, when 
he was brought to the United States by his 
parents, and the family after landing at 
Quebec, Canada, came to ilinncsota and set- 
tled in Fillmore county. The father of our 
subject there bought a farm and upon that 
the family resided until the dcatli of the 
father, in 1860. 

In 1871 the subject of this sketch came to 
Stevens county and took a preemption of 
160 acres of land, upon which he renuiined 
about two \'ears, and then ti'aded it for the 
old farm in Fillmore county, where his 
youth was passed. On going to the latter 
place he sold out there and returned to Stev- 
ens county and homesteaded tiie place where 
he now lives, and has been engaged in farm- 
ing there ever since. 

One year a cyclone swej)t over the county 
and denujlished liis stable and granary, and 
partially lifted his house from its foundation, 
fortunately not hurting any of the family. 
He lost one crop by a liail storm, but has, 
otiierwise, met with considcrai)le success in 
this part of the State. 

Mr. Hvile was nuirried Janiiarv 25, ls74, 
to Mi.ss Lena Hoken.son Barnstad, wiio died 
April 10, 1887, leaving four children— Gina 



STEVEXS COUNTY, MIXNESOTA. 



A., born July 29, 1879; Mena A., born Octo- 
ber 11, 1881; Ililfred B., born November 4, 
1884; and Jolin L., born April 10. ISST, died 
July 31, 1887. 

Mr. llvile is a prominent and active mem- 
ber of the LutJieran Ciiurch, is one of the 
trustees of tliat cono'reg-ation and one of the 
building committee. He is also one of the 
executive committee of the Farmer's Alliance 
of the to\vnshi]i. In his politics he is a re- 
l)ublican, and is one of the board of supervi- 
sors of the town of Framnas, and has served 
as commissioner of highways and school di- 
rector for a number of years. He is a strong 
advocate of the temperance movement, and- 
foremost in all woi'k of a moral or religious 
tendency, antl has the resjiect and esteem of 
all in the comnmnitv. 



^^EORGE MATTESON. one of Stevens 



county's prominent farmer citizens, 
living on section 34, of Horton township, is 
a native of New York, born in Otsego 
county, at the town of AVest Exeter, Janu- 
aiy IT), 1826. His parents were Smith and 
Hannah (Berger) Mattesou. The parents 
lived and died in New York. The father 
was a farmer and carpenter. Their family 
of nine chihh-en were as follows — Delos, Zil- 
plia, Mary, Catharine, Hannah, Josiah, 
George, Lorin<la and Louisa. Our subject, 
George, spent the first eighteen years of his 
life at school and odd woi'k between terms, 
attending the .schools in West Exeter and 
Schujder Lake. He having first obtained 
a fair business education, commenced to 
pi'actice the realities of life on his own ac- 
count. He has had but one calling through 
life, thus far — tiiat of a farmer and stock- 
raiser. He came West, remaining in Sac 
county, Wisconsin, for eleven years. From 
thei'e he went to Richland county, that State, 
where he purchased a farm ; but two years 



later he came to Rice county, Minnesota, 
where he farmed about twelve years, then 
removed to the place where he now lives and 
homesteaded a quarter section of land. He 
now operates a 240 acre farm, in Horton 
township, and raises grain, grass and fine 
stock. 

Mr. Matteson Avas married in ifarch, 1848, 
to Miss Louisa Howard, born in New York, 
and a daughter of Eli Ploward. Both her 
father and iilother are now deceased. Mrs. 
Matteson's parents had eight children, of 
whom she was the second born. She was 
educated in New York. Their children are — 
Ellen, Delos, Albertus, Nettie, George, 
Eva, Eugene, Walter H. and Delmar. The 
names of the children, who have died are — 
Mary, who jDassed away when two years and 
two months old ; Devilla died at the age of 
three years. The living children are all mar- 
ried except Delmar, who reuuiins at home. 

Politically our subject is a republican, and 
has held various local offices, such as justice 
of the peace, etc. 

JOHN W. EDDY, a resident of section 20 
iloi'i'is township. Stevens county, forms 
the subject of this sketch. He was born 
September 26, 1849, in Massachusetts. He 
is the son of Chester W. and Sarah J. (Bow- 
man) Edd}', who were natives of the same 
State. His mother died some years ago; the 
father is still living there. Up to the age of 
twenty-one years John attended school and 
worked at the carpenter's trade. From that 
date on he worked at that trade and also at 
cabinet work, until he went to New York 
State, where he remained a year. In 1877 
he came West, stopping first at Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, where he remained four months, 
after which he came to Morris, in poor 
health. He secured 200 acres of tiie farm he 
now lives upon, and moved to the same in the 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



5«3 



fall nf tlic samovear. He now has240acres 
well improved and under a high state of 
cultivation. 

Mr. Eddy was married to Wealthy A. 
Ilartson, on tiio 7th of JIarcli, 1876. Mrs. 
Eddy's people were natives of Massachnsetts, 
and she was born at ilontague, Massa- 
chusetts. July 5, 1857. 

Politically Mr. Eddy is a democrat. He 
has the good will of all within his neighbor- 
hood, and is esteemed as an e.xeniplary 
citi/en. 

■ •' > '?^^"»— 

^MlBRAHAM lee, who is one of the pros- 
J^^ jierons and highly esteemed farmers 
of Stevens county, is pleasantly located on 
section 2. Ilodges township. It is the chief 
aim. in the authorship of a work of this sort 
to give as much as possible of personal his- 
tory of the person written about, together 
with that concerning his or her family, as it 
will be of much interest to those who may 
come after us to read and know of what the 
])receding generation have accomplished in 
life both publicly and privately. 

Mr. Lee was born at Sondre Urtlal \'ald- 
ers, Norway, August 18, 1844, his parents, 
(Gilbert and JIary Lee, being also natives of 
that country, and are now living there upon 
their old homestead. They were the parents 
of eleven children — seven sons and four 
daughters, all grown to years of manhood 
and womanhood. Their names were — Gil- 
bert, Ai)raham. Iver, Andrew, IIoLsten. Ole, 
^[artin. Inger, IJetsy, Carrie and Alary. 

( )ur subject spent the first sixteen years of 
his life, about the same as other vigorous 
vouth of .Norway have. Ileattended school 
an<l aided his jjarents at home on the fai-m. 
At this age, he commenced to learn the shoe- 
making trade, continuing the same for si.x 
years. His last year at that work in Nor- 
way was in 1867, and he became convinced 



that America afforded him better chances for 
making something for himself than did his 
native land, consecpiently he came to this 
country, landing at Portland. Elaine. From 
there he soon departed for Greene county, 
Wisconsin, at a point about fifteen miles from 
Monroe, where he engaged for a few months, 
as a farm laborer. He soon went to work at 
his shoemaking trade and followed it that 
winter, at Postville, Greene county. From 
that location he came to Stevens count}-, 
Minnesota, moving with two yoke of oxen, 
accompanying one Jacob Baker, who had 
sixteen head of cattle; the}'^ were six weeks 
in coming, and j)assed over much new, wild 
looking territor\\ which has since been finel}' 
developed into handsome farms and comfort- 
able homes, wherein live a happy class of in- 
telligent people. 

Our subject at fii-st located in Framnas 
township, but later he homesteaded 140 acres 
of land in Ilodges township, his present place 
of residence. He now has 200 acres, which are 
nicely improved with suitable buildings and 
all that goes toward making a ])leasant home. 
He raises grain and gives much attention to 
the growth of livestock. 

Mr. Lee was married at Penson, Minne- 
sota, in July, 1871, to Miss Alice Thompson, 
a native of Norway, who came to America 
at the age of ten years, living in P'illniore 
county with her parents. She is the second 
child of a family of ten children— five boys 
and five girls, named as follows — Austin, 
Thomas, Nels, Levi, Ole, Carrie, Augusta, 
Alice and two named Carrie who died before 
the l)irth of those of the same name. Mrs. 
Lee's parents were named Thomas and Au- 
gusta Thompson. The mother died in 
Stevens county, in 1S79, and was buried in 
Framnas townshii), aged fifty-seven years. 
She was a member of the Lutheran Church 
and was an exemplary woman, belove«l by 
all who knew her. The father is still alive, 
living with his son Austin, in Framnas town- 



514 



STEVK.VS COU.VTV, MT.VjVESOTA. 



ship, aged sixty-live years. Mrs. Lee re 
ceived part of her education in the land of 
lier birth — Norway — and a part in Fillmore 
county, Minnesota. By this union Mr. and 
Mrs. Lee have been blessed with the follow- 
ing children — Gustof, deceased; Mary. Au- 
gusta, Gurena and Turena, twins; Gustof: Ida 
and Belle, twins; and Martin. 

Our subject is a republican in his political 
belief and belongs to the Lutheran Church. 
He is an active and highh' respected citizen. 
In 1S83 he was elected treasurer of school 
disti'ict No. 9, and is still holding the same 
position. lie has apjilied himself closely to 
his farm and the im[)rovement of the same, 
ever since he first located there, with the ex- 
ception of one trip to Dakota, where he 
woi'ked for a government contractor for 
about four months, engaged at hauling -wood 
and hay, with two yoke of oxen. 



^LaNS frank, the subject of this bio- 
irtiL graphy, is a thrifty and energetic 
agriculturist of Stevens county, and resides 
on section 10, Eldorado township. He was 
born in Gible Okelboe, Sweden, January 16, 
1855, and is a son of John and Christiana 
(Hanson) Johnson, who were also natives 
of that kingdom. Hans remained at home, 
working on the farm and going to school 
until he was twenty-six years old. At that 
age he came to the United States. After a 
voyage of eleven days from Liverpool, Eng- 
land, he landed in New York City. Thence 
he proceeded directly to Kewanee, Henr^^ 
county. Illinois. There he remained about 
six months, working in a brick yard ami in 
the coal mines. 

In 1882 he came to Stevens county, ]\[in- 
nesota. For the next year he worked on 
Mr. ]\hickenzie"sfarm, and then took a home- 
stead of 160 acres in Eldorado township, on 
section 10, where he has since resided. He 



has, by industry, economj' and good manage- 
ment, placed himself in very comfortable 
circumstances. He has a beautiful farm, 
well under cultivation, and with excellent 
building improvements. He has quite a 
number of cattle, and is engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising. His father died 
in the old country', and his mother is still 
residing on the old farm in her native land. 
In political matters Mr. Frank is a rejiubli- 
can. 



►ETER dyer, of whom this sketch will 
treat, is now living on section 22, of 
Synnes township, in Stevens county, Min- 
nesota, where he is carrying on a very suc- 
cessful farming business. 

He was born in Ireland, in 1858. His 
parents were Dominick and Mary (McCarthy) 
Dyer, natives of the same country. The 
father died iu Ireland, when our subject was 
about eight years old ; he followed farming 
for a livelihood. Peter came to this country 
with his mother, brother and two sisters, in 
1866. They landed at Castle Garden. New 
York, and from there went to St. Paul, Min 
nesota, where his mother was married to 
Patrick Case\', of Lakeville, Dakota county, 
Minnesota, who was a farmer of that section. 
Tlie mother died at that place, in August, 
1880, aged forty- nine j^ears. She was a firm 
believer in the faith and teaching of the 
Roman Catholic Chui'ch. By the last named 
marriage, there were two children born — 
Josej)h and Roger, who are both living and 
unmarried. 

Mr. Dyer received his education principally 
in St. Paul, Minnesota, leaving his classes 
wlien al)out seventeen years old. He went 
to farming, continuing in the same most of 
the time since. He came to Morris, Stevens 
county, in 1881, and there worked on a farm 
for a year, after which he went to Synnes 



sr/:r/:.vs coiwry, .u/.va'/-so7-a. 



515 



township, and worked on a farm during that 
summer, for M. F. Finnegan. In tiie fall of 
that year, he took advantage of the home- 
stead law, by securing a quarter section of 
land on section 22, and soon added another 
(liiartei- section on section 23, both tracts 
l)eing in Synnes township. lie at once 
ccjmmenced making the usual rarniMiu! home 
improvements, and to-day is tlie owner of a 
most excellent place. 

lie is still a single man, and it may be well 
added, a representative num of his township 
and t'ounty. Politically he is a democrat, 
and a strong advocate of temperance. In 
1S8(>, he was elected as director of school 
disti'ict Xo. 2'J, and is still holding the same 
in an acceptable manner. 



-^•^ 



John HADLER, an energetic and suc- 



^ cessful farmer, who has his home on 
section 18, Framnas township,was born in 
Germany, September 5, 1S41, and is the son 
of Jacob and ]\Iary (Bartels) Iladler. He 
was reared and educated in the land of his 
birth and made his home in that country un- 
til 1867, when, with a view to the better- 
ment of his fortune, and in search of the 
chance to raise his condition in life, not prac- 
ticable in his native home, he crossed the 
ocean to the United States. On landing in 
Xew York, he came at once westward, and 
located in (Toodhiie county, ilinnesota, where 
he went to work on a farm. After remain- 
ing in that part of the State some ten years, 
he came to Stevens county, and, under the 
homestea<l act, took up a claim on a quarter 
of a section of land, where he now lives. To 
this lie has added IfiO acres, and now has a 
valuable farm of 320 acres, devoted to gen- 
eral farming and stock-raising. Here lie has 
made his home ever since. 

Mr. ILuller was united in marriage, Feb- 
I'uary, 18G7, to Miss Mary (^uest, by whom 



he has had twelve children— Mary C, Katie 
M., Mattie, Annie C, John G. Matilda, (de- 
ceased), Henry, Lena, Jacob (deceased), 
Matilda, Menu mul AVilliam. 

In ftis politics, our sul)ject is a democrat, 
advocating strongly the principles of that 
party. He is a meiid)er of the (ierman 
Lutheran Church, and a zealous and active 
worker in all religious movements. 

#ILBERT ERICKSON, an industrious 
and enterprising, farmer of the town 
of Donnelly, is the son of Erick and Anna 
(Gilbertsdatterj Erickson, and was born in 
Xorway, in July, 1834. He was raised on 
his father's farm, and assistetl him in the 
labors attendant upon an agricultui-al life. 
At the age of twenty-five he bought a farm 
of his own and carried it <>n in connection 
with that of his father, and at the same 
time worked in the hitter's saw-mill. 

In the year 1869 our subject crossed the 
ocean to the United States to ameliorate his 
condition in life, and located in St. Paul, 
]\Iinnesota. He went to work for the St. 
Paul, Minneapohs it ^[anitoba Railroad 
Company, and assisted in the construction of 
the road from the river to Donnelly. He 
next went to Pembina, and there was em- 
ployed in the same line of work for one fall, 
and after that went to Moorhead. In the 
latter place the woi'k did not last long, and 
after a short time spent there and in Glyn- 
don he came back to this county and was 
engaged in trapping, working for various 
farmers and other employments until the 
spring of 1874. He then took up as a home- 
stead eighty acres of land on section 24, 
Donnelly township, where he has lived evei- 
since. He has a neat frame residence and 
excellent out-buildings, and has some sixty 
acres under cultivation. 

Mr. Erickson was married in August, 



516 



STEJ'EXS COU.VTV, M/.V.YESOTA. 



1873, to Mrs. Ingra (Hansdatter) Kildren, 
and by their union they iiave one cliild — 
Edward, who was born September 21, 1875. 
Mrs. Erickson, was, at tlie time of her mar- 
riage, the widow of John Kildren, by whom 
she iiad one son — Jolm, born Februai'y 13, 
1864. 

Mr. Erickson is a republican in iiis politics, 
and has held the office of constable in the 
town for one term. He and his wife ai'e 
members of the Lutheran Church, and are 
exemplary Christian people. He is one of 
the enterprising men of the town, and spares 
no effort in any work that seems for the bene- 
fit of the community in which he resides or 
for tiie cause of religion or moralit}'. 



■^-S^J^- 




AMUEL D. HEATH, whose fine farm 
liome is situated on section 32, Morris 
townsliip, Stevens county, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, born in Crawford county, of 
tiiat State, April 10, 1834. His parents were 
Samuel and Mary (Dean) Heath, natives of 
the same State, both of whom are now 
deceased. Their forepareuts came from 
Scotland. 

Samuel D. lleatli, whose name heads this 
article, left home in 1854, and went to Kane 
countVr Illinois, wiiere he worked on a farm 
for two years, and from there went to Red 
Wing, Minnesota, in October, 1856. He 
teamed for a short time, then preempted a 
piece of land and went to farming for him- 
self. He remained there until 1875, when he 
moved to the township in which he now 
lives, purchasing his present place of 160 
acres, upon which he raised the first peaclies 
ever produced in Northern Minnesota, if not 
the first grown in the State. The fruit was 
exhibited to the writer of this sketch and 
looked fair and ])himp ; the trees also present 
a fine thrifty look. 

Mr. Heath was married in 1862. to Cathar- 



ine Dorsey, who died May 23, 1866. There 
was one son by this marriage — Norris R. 
For his second wife our subject married 
Fanny Simmons, in 1874. 

Politically Mi'. Heath is a rei)ublican. 
With all the shifting scenes of life, lie lias 
kept true and faithful his integrity, and 
to-day has the respect of a large circle of 
friends, who prize him for his upriglitness, 
and respect him as an exemplary citizen. 



#EORGE BEGGS, a prominent and 
successful farmer, on section 2, 
Moore tow'nship, Stevens county, is a native 
of Windham, Greene county, New York. He 
was born December 8, 1834, and his parents, 
both natives of Scotland, were named Wil- 
liam and Isabelle (Allen) Peggs. The\' 
married in Scotland and came to this country 
at an early day — about 1832. They first 
located at Windham, Greene count\'. New 
Yoi'k, where they remained but a sliort time, 
and tlien moved to Lexington, of the same 
county. They remained there for fifteen 
years, after which they again moved — this 
time going to Schoharie county. New Yoi'k, 
where they spent the remainder of their 
days. The father died about 1871, at the 
age of seventy years. The mother dicil in 
1887, aged eighty-six years. They both 
belonged to the Paptist Church. Their 
family consisted of six children, who reached 
the age of maturity — James, Jane, John, 
George, William and Levi. Jane and John 
are now deceased. 

Our subject — George Peggs — spent his 
younger days at school in Greene and 
Schoharie counties, New York, finishing his 
education at Lexington, at the age of 
eighteen years. After he left school 
he engaged in farming, following the 
same until he came West, sto])ping for 
seven years in Goodhue county, Minnesota, 



STEVEA/S COUjVTY, aMINNESOTA. 



5'7 



but in the fall of 1875, came to Stevens 
county and located on his present premises, 
in Moore townsliip, where he has been suc- 
cessfull}^ engaged at fanning and stock- 
I'aising. He took up a homestead of 160 
acres, and by untii'ing energy has lived to 
see the same transfoi'mcd from an unbroken 
pi'airie [ilain, into one i>t' tin; liiiest farms 
within Stevens county. \\^ has an excellent 
gi'ovo about his fai'in house, which lends a 
charm to tiie ]iremises, and at the same time 
affoi'iis a cooling shade at mid-snmmcr, as 
well as a great protection against the 
wintry blasts of a long, cold, winter season. 
Mr. Beggs was married, Xovember 7, 18(56. 
to Miss Addie Sutherland, a native of Greene 
county, New York, who was born June 28, 
1845. She is the daughter of Betiiel and 
Emily (Blish) Sutherland, who were also 
natives of New York. They removed to St. 
Paul, Minnesota, in 1870, where they are 
still living. lie is a railroad and bi'idge 
contractor. They were married in Stanford, 
New York, and are the jjarents of three 
children — Adeline, Flora, and liattie, all 
now living. i\[rs. Beggs received her eiluca- 

O DO 

tion in New Yoi'k. Their children are 
Lillian and Emily V. They mourn the loss 
of a son — Bertie, wiio died at the age of 
three months. 

Our subject Ijelongs to the |)rohibition 
])arty,and isamemberof the Baptist Church: 
also is a member of the Sons of Temperance 
order. He and iiis family are among 
Stevens county's most highly esteemed 
residents. 



I natives of Germany and Switzerland, re- 
\ spectively. The father came to this country 
I and settled in Washington county, '^[inne- 
sota, being one of tlie earliest settlers in that 
region of the country. Our subject remained 
with his parents until he was twenty-Hve 
years of age, at which time he came to 
Stevens county, Minnesota, and bought one- 
half of section 33, Pep)>erton townsliip, wiiere 
he still lives. His early life was si)ent in the 
excellent common-schools of his native State, 
and in 1873, he entered the St. C'roi.x Valley 
Academy, at Afton, iEinnesota, and renudned 
there some six or seven terms. After his 
settlement on his claim, he did not nuike it 
his permanent I'esidence, but worked on it 
only in the summer, until 1884. 

In the spring of 1884, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Ella Blage, of I'epperlon, 
Minnesota, and they have been l)lessed with 
two children — Theodore F. and William G. 
Mr. Rentz is a man of the utmost integ- 
rity and honor, and has always taken an act- 
ive interest in all public and educational en- 
terpi'ises. lie has held the numerous offices 
of the township, including town clerk, jus- 
tice of the peace and school director. He 
has one of the most beautiful farms in his 
section of the county, comprising 320 iicres, 
140 acres being under cultivation. He has 
elegant, substantial buildings, and all the 
necessary implements of husijandry. lleand 
his family are exemplary members of tiie 
Methodist Church. 



RED J. RENTZ, an energetic and pros, 
perous agriculturist of Stevens county, 
is a resident of section 33, Pei^perton town- 
sliij). He is a native of ilinnesota, born at 
Stillwater, October 14, 1854, and is a son of 
Fred and Susan llentz. The parents were 



'«" 



«»► 



l^URTON J. SMITH, one of the tiior- 
JLJ j ) ough going fanners of Morris town- 
ship, Stevens county, living on section 32. is 
a native of Vermont, born December 1!*, 
1848. His parents were George and Flora 
(Rogers) Suntli, who were also botii natives 
of Vermont. The son left that State in 18.".5, 
with bis parents, who moved West, settling 



5IS 



STEVEXS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



at Aurora, Illiiiuis, where thev followed 
farming until 187(5, then went to Michigan, 
in which State he stayed until 1881, at which 
time he came to ^[innesota. His father, 
having come the year before, was then at 
Ortonville. Our subject remained at that 
place until July, 1882, then came to Morris, 
where he took charge of the Wellington 
farm for live years, being the foreman. He 
then jnirchased 100 acres of land,u]ion which 
he now lives, having since purchased iin 
additional eighty. 

Mr. Smith was married July 7, 1881, to 
InezTlionilin. In' whom one child was born — 
Teddy, who died, April 9, 1888, at the age 
of six years and inne months. 

In political belief Mr. Smith is a repub- 
lican. Like nearly all the natives of the 
'■ Green Mountain State," our subject is a 
wide-awake, enterprising man, and is re- 
gai'ded as one of the most substantial and re- 
liable farmers in the township in whicli he 
lives. 



F'NGEL LING, a pi'osperous and prominent 
IL farmer of Eldorado township, is a resi- 
dent of section 24. lie was born in the 
northern part of Sweden, March 7, 1857, 
and is the son of Jonas and Ingra (Ingleson) 
Larson, who wei'e natives of the same king- 
dom. He lived with his parents on the home 
farm until 1881, when he came to the United 
States and settled in Henry county, Illinois, 
where he worked for one year in the coal 
mines. He then came to Donnell\', Minne- 
sota, whei-e he remained one year, working 
on the railroad. He llien bought a quarter 
of section 24, Eldorado township, Stevens 
county, where he has since remained. He 
has a valuable farm of 160 acres, fifty- three 
acres being under cultivation. He has quite 
a number of cattle, three horses and two 
colts, eleven head of cattle and a comfortable 



house, and is rated as one of the most sub- 
stantial farmers in his township. He is a 
man of the utmost integrity and honor, and 
is highl}- esteemed by all who know him. 
He has held the office of road overseer for 
two years, and takes an active interest in all 
local affairs. 

Mr. Ling was married August 23, 1881, 
to Sliss Christiana Larson, daughter of Lars 
and Ingra (Olson) Danielson. Tliis union has 
been blessed with the following children — 
Anna Amelia, born September 16, 1884; 
and Ida Christiana, born January 31, 1886. 

In pcjlitical matters our subject atliliates 
with the republican party. 



^-'6 



J^t ANS LARSON, one of the enterprising 
-L'^QL Scandinavian farmers of the town of 
Donnelly, living on section 2, is the son of 
Lars and Ingi'a Olson, and was born in the 
southern part of Norway, near Christiania, 
October 14, 1841. He was reared in the 
land of his birth and there remained until 
1871, engaged in work on the farm in the 
summer months and in the woods in the 
winter. In the latter year he left his native 
land and sailed for America, and after land- 
ing came directly to Minnesota and Stevens 
county. The railroad was only finished as 
far as Benson, and he was compelled to walk 
the entire distance from that place to Don- 
nelly. For three years he found work on the 
railroad construction, except one year sjient 
in the lumber woods of Otter Tail county. 
In the spring of 1874, he took up a homestead 
of eighty acres of land on section 2, Donnel- 
ly township, where he now resides. He and 
his partner, Hans Olson, took up adjoining 
claims and built a snnill frame shanty, and 
there they kept house. They broke up 
about fourteen acres that year and got in 
tlieir grain, but the grasshoppers gathered it 
for him, as they did the succeeding year. He 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



5'9 



and Mr. Olson remained in compan)'^ fornine 
years. He has had but one good crop since 
coming to tiiiscount}^ and that was pai-tially 
destroyed b\' hail. He lias had mucli had 
hick, losing horses to the value of $700, 
machinery to the amount of §.500. besides 
cattle and grain. 

Mr. Larson was married, April 20, 1881, 
to ^riss Henrietta Olson, who died in the 
fall of 1SS3. On the .5th of July. ISSfi, he 
was united in iiiarriiigc with Miss Olena 
Graflf, the daughter of ilicliael and Andrea 
(Olson) Gratr, and by this union is'the father 
of one child — Ludwig, born A]>ril S, 1887. 

Mr. Larson is a member of the Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran Church and a zealous Christian. 
He is a republican in- his political creed and 
is a staunch adherent to the principles of 
that party. 



T^^ICHAEL FITZGERALD, a fanner of 
Ji>^l7\^ prominence,! bearing the respect of 
all his neighbors, is now a resident of section 
30, Hodges township, Stevens county, Min- 
nesota. He is a man of large and varied ex- 
perience, and one who is practical in all his 
life work. 

He was i)orn in County Cork, Ireland, 
in March, IS-il. His father was John 
Fitzgerald and his mother Margret (Collins) 
Fitzgerald. The fathei' died first, and after 
al)c)ut twenty years the mother followed. 
They were devout Roman Catholics, and 
very highly esteemed ))eople. He was a 
farmer and laborer during his entire life. 
Of the children, eight in numi)er, only four 
are now living — Ellen. Kate. Ilanoia and 
Michael. 

Our subject spent his sclnxil days in Ire- 
land, coming to this country in lst;4. landing 
at Castle Garden, Is'ew York ('ity. From 
there he came to Dodge county, Wisconsin, 



where he remained for six months, and then 
went to Michigan, where he worked for nine 
months. He then came i)ack to Wisconsin, 
remained for a time and then came to ilin- 
neapolis, where he lived about nine years, 
engaged in railroad work. His next removal 
was to Stevens county, locating as above 
described, on a homestead, containing IfiO 
aci-es. He has purchased since, enough to 
make him a farm of ;{u(» acres, all in sections 
30 and 31, Hodges township. He is a good 
farmer, and makes a sjjecialty of raising fine 
blooded stock. 

Mr. Fitzgerald was married to ifiss Julia 
Tlierdon. daughter of Eugene Kierdon, in 
Mai-ch, 1876. His wife was the eldest of 
the famil}'^ of several children, belonging to 
her parents, and was born in Ireland, coming 
to America with her brother. They have 
been blessed with seven children — Margaret, 
John. Mary, William, ^lichael, Eugene and 
David, all of whom are still at home with 
their parents. 

In his politics our subject is a democrat, 
but is a man. in politics as everything else, 
who uses the power of a good judgment and 
j only belives in party, because such party ad- 
I vocates his convictions and political princi- 
ples. He has held the office of school direc- 
tor of district No. (5, since 1885, having al- 
ways taken an active interest in all public 
! and educational alTairs. 

Relieiouslv Mi'. Fitzgerald is a lloman 
Catholic. 



PETER MADER, one of the prominent 
farmers of Stevens county, living on 
section 2, Everglade township, was born in 
the beautiful and pictuicscpie Grand Duchy 
of Wurfemburg. Germany, February 21, 
1828, and is a .son of Anton and Gunfafa 
(Steadley) Mader. lioth of his parents were 



520 



STEVFNS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



natives of tliat part of tlie fatherland, and 
lived and died among its liold mountains and 
lovely valleys. 

The subject of this sketch was reared and 
educated in the land of his birth, and ma<le 
his home tiiere until 1854, when, bidding 
adieu to his native land, he embarked for the 
United States in search of his fortune, as do 
so many of his fellow countrymen, from the 
beautiful region of tlie vine and the shores 
of the placid river IJliine. Landing at Kew 
York, he at once went to the State of Indi- 
ana, and there made his home, until five 
years had passed. At the expiration of that 
time he removed to Henderson, Sibley 
county, Minnesota, in which village he car- 
ried on carpentering. 

In November. 1S62, in response to the 
continual call for more men to suppress the 
rebellion. Mr. Mader enlisted in Company 
L, First Minnesota Cavalry, and for nine 
months served on the frontier, for it was the 
time of the Indian outbreak. On receiving 
his discharge from that regiment, in Novem- 
ber, 1863, he re-enhsted in Company E. Sec- 
ond Minnesota. Cavalry, and served for three 
years and two montlis. Part of this time 
was with General Sully, in his expedition 
into the Northwest, and ])art of it in the 
Soutii, in conflict with the I'ebels. On the 
close of hostilities, he was dischai-ged, and 
retuiMied to this State, and for thi'ee \'ears 
was employed in tending bar at Shakopee. 
From thei'e he removed to Henderson, but a 
year later went to Carver county, and there 
engaged in fai'ming for about ten years. His 
next move was to Hennepin county, where 
he farmed for three years, and in 1878 came 
to Stevens county. He took up as a soldier's 
homeste.id the quarter section of land in 
Everglade township, where he now lives, 
and commenced its ini])rovement. Here he 
has lived ever since, and has now one of the 
finest farms in the town. 

Mr. Mader was married, April 23, 1866, to 



Miss Cornelia Goetz, and is the parent of 
twelve children— Mary, Eose W.. Andrew, 
Jacob, Anthony, John Peter, Katie, Emma, 
Maggie, Theresa and Helena and Fena. 



'CO 

twins 



Mr. Mader is a member of the Catholic 
Church, and is a democrat in his politics. 



[AMES O'REILLY, an enterprising farmer 
living on section 10, Moore township, 
Stevens count}', is a native of Ireland, born 
in the coimty of Wexford, in the year 1819, 
some time during the month of ^lai-ch. His 
parents were James and Ann S. (Murphy) 
O'Reilly, who lived and died in Ireland. 
They had nine children — seven boys and two 
girls. Our subject was next to the youngest, 
and left his parents' home in 1847, coming to 
the United States, landing at New York 
City, where he remained three or four 
months, and then went to Kingston, Canada 
"West, remaining there for two years, then 
came to Oswego, New York, spending three 
vears there at slioemalcins', having learned 
that triide in Ireland and worked at it several 
years. He served five years as an ap- 
prentice, having to pay a fee for the]irivilege 
of learning the trade. He had attended 
school up to the time he was fourteen years 
of age, and then learned this trade. After 
leaving Oswego, he came West, stopping at 
Chicago for about seven months, working at 
his trade. From that cit}' he went to Grand 
Eiver, Michigan, where he spent about twelve 
vears. lumbering' for eight vears and fishing 
the remainder of the time which he lived 
there. His next move was to Blue Earth 
count}', Minnesota, where he lived twenty 
years, following farm life for the most part. 
From that county he removed to Stevens 

! county, locating on his present farm. 

Mr. O'Reillv was married in 18.58 to Miss 

I Bridgett Laura, who was a native of Ireland, 



STF.VEN^S COUNTY. Afl.VNESOTA. 



521 



coming to America when a mere girl. They 
liave nine cliiKh-en — three sons and six 
(lauojiters — Anna Stetia, Sarali, John, 
James, Mary, Katie, Jcjsepli, Terescia and 
Eridgett. Anna S. married Henry Daley of 
Hancock. Minnesota ; Sarah married Daniel 
McGowen ; JMary married Terrance iEc- 
Gowen. and the remainder are unmarried. 
Tere-scia and Bridget t are school teachers. 

Politically our suliject is a democrat. lie 
antl liis hou.sehold belong to tlie Koman 
Catholic Church. 

We now come to speak of a part of Mi\ 
O'Reilly's life whic-li was spent in defense 
of his adopted country, lie enlisted in ISflS 
in the First Cavalry of Minnesota Volunteers, 
under Captain St. Julian Cox, now an 
attorney of St. Paul. Our subject enlisted 
as a private, but came out as compan\' 
saddler. lie was mustered out at Fort 
Suelling after a year's service, but he again 
enlisted — this time going into the Second 
Cavahy, serving two years and eight months, 
and was again mustered out at Fort Snelling. 



-*- 



-^ 



^Iji^HOMAS J. MOORE, a resident of 
XlL- Morris village, is a native of Maryland, 
born August 10, 1849. 

In 1S59 his parents moved to Sibley 
county, ilmnesota, where the father took up 
a farm on which he lived for seven or eight 
vears, when he sold his farm and engaged in 
business in Henderson, where he still lives. 
Thomas J. lived with his parents until he was 
sixteen years old, at which time his mother 
died. He then left home, and for the next 
year and a half, he worked as an apjjrentice 
at the carjienter's trade. He then went to 
St. Paul, where he remained some two yeai's, 
after which he went to Fort Lincoln, Dakota 
Territory, where he had the job of building 
Government barracks. Yor the next few 
yeai-s, he was engaged in various occupations, 



principally bridge building, and more espe- 
cially those pursuits which i)ertained to his 
chosen trade. Soon he decided to seek a 
[)ermanent location, and, Ijeing more particu- 
larly struck with the richness and prosperity 
of Stevens county, settled on a farm which 
he still continues to IkjUI, altliouich he is en- 
gaged in a general merchandising business 
in Morris. 

Mr. Moore was married October 26, 1874, 
to Miss Kate Dillon. Mr. Moore is promi- 
nently identified with public matters, and 
has held the office of dejjuty shcrilf for sev- 
eral years. 



.^^ 



-«« 



T. WHEATON, the present county 
surveyor of Stevens county, is a na- 
tive of Vermont, born at Barre, AVashington 
county, January 21, 184.5. Uj) to the age of 
twenty-four jears, Mr. Wheaton attended 
school, graduating from Barre Academy, 
Vennont, in 1865, and from Dartmouth 
College in 1869. For the next seven years 
he was engaged in school teaching, civil 
engineering, etc., etc., in Monroe, Wisconsin, 
Nebraska and various other localities. In 
1876, he settled in Morris, where he has since 
remained, always taking an active interest 
in public, educational and church nuitters. 

]\[r. Wheaton was nuirricd April 4, 1880, 
to Miss Minnie Larson, and they have been 
blessed with one child — Mary. He and 
his family are members of the Congrega- 
tional Church. 



BANIEL LEONARD, whose excellent 
farm home may be found on .section 
12 of Synnes township, Stevens county, is 
one of the leading farmers in the southern 
portion of the county. He was born in 
County Cork, Ireland, in May, 1814. His 



522 



STEVFNS COUNTY. .UJ.VNESOTA. 



parents were Patrick and Mary (Shea) Leon- 
ard, also natives of Ireland, and there spent 
their entire lives. The father was a farmer, 
and the first to die. They had a famil}' of 
ten children — Morris, Jeremiah, Ellen, Maiy 
H., and Daniel are living, and tiie remainder 
are deceased. 

Our subject went to the common schools 
of his native country, and worked out of 
school hours, until 1S41, when he came to 
this country-, landing in Canada, where he 
remained eleven months, on Prince Edward's 
Island. From there he went to Massachu- 
setts, remained for a time and then went 
"West, stopping in Dakota county, Minnesota. 
From that point he came to his present loca- 
tion in Stevens county, where he home- 
steaded 160 acres of land, and went to farm- 
ing and stock-raising, by which business he 
has gained a competency, and now lives 
a somewhat retired life. 

He was married April 20, 1844, in Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts, to Miss Mary O'Brien, 
wlio was born in Boston, February 10, 1823. 
She is the daughter of Thomas and Mary 
(Donavan) O'Brien, of County Cork, Ireland, 
who came to this country at an early day, 
settling at Bangor, and from there went to 
Boston, at which city they died. Tiie father 
was a nuison by trade, and followed the same 
through life. He died first, and the mother 
followed, in 1847. They had two daughters, 
grown to womanhood — Caroline, now Mrs. 
McTague, now widowed and living in Mas- 
sachusetts, and Mrs. Leonard. Mrs. Leonard 
spent her school days in Worcester, Mas- 
sachusetts, having come to that city from 
Boston, when only six years of age, with 
an aunt, with whom she lived until a young- 
lady. When she had attained fifteen years 
she left school. She is now the mother of 
five daughters and four sons — Thomas, 
William, Jeremiah, Morris, Agnes, Alice, 
Elizel)etli, Kate and Rose. Four of their 
children are now deceased — John, Thomas, 



Mary and an infant. The daughter Agnes 
married Mathias Fay, a printer on the Saint 
Paul Dally Globe; Alice married Charles 
Cross, a lumberman of Maine; Elizebeth 
married Charles Shanley, an employe of 
the Saint Paul & Minneapolis Railroad, with 
headquartei's at Saint Paul; Kate mar- 
ried John Anderson, a farmer in Dakota; 
Rose attended school at Minneapolis, and 
has followed the profession of school teacher 
to some extent. 

Politicall>' our subject believes in the prin- 
ciples sustained by the democratic party. In 
his religion he is of the Roman Catholic faith. 



JOHN ANDERSON, a farmer of section •!> 
Rendsville township, is a native of 
Sweden, born November 6, 1843, and is a 
son of Andrew and Bergetta (Olson) Nelson. 
He worked on his father's farm, and received 
a common education. In 1881 he came to 
the United States, landing in New York 
City. After landing he came to Michigan, 
where he remained four j'ears, working in a 
lumber mill. He tlien came to Minnesota 
in 1885, and settled on his present place in 
1887, having been in Grant county during 
the interval. 

Mr. Anderson was married to Eleanor 
Nelson, in April, 186C, by which union 
eight children have been born, two of whom 
are deceased. He and his family are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church. In political 
matters he is a democrat. 



lOHN MANGEN, who lives on section 
28, town of Darnen, was born in Ire- 
land in 1838. At the age of twenty-two he 
engaged in the grocery business. He mar- 
ried at the age of twenty-six, and remained 
in trade until 1871, when he came to this 



sr/CVEXS COU.VTV. M/XXESOT.I. 



523 



country. After remaining a few days in 
New York, wiiere he landed, he came to 
Minnesota, and located in Tvamsey county. 
After being engaged in various kinds of 
work and losing his first wife, he went to 
St. Paul, where he was married a second 
time. Tiien lie came to Morris, Stevens 
county, and took a homestead of eighty 
acres. Subsequently he Ijouglit an adjoin- 
inff eie:ht\' acres, which now makt^ him KIO 
with 100 under cultivation. He takes an 
active interest in town and school matters. 



-i^J^"«^* 



^''■"^^ K. LIGHT, who now lives on section 
2<'>, Mori-is township, Stevens county, 
is a native of I'ennsylvania, born near Ilar- 
risburg, December 2, ISli. He came West 
in 1S67, his objective point being Minnesota. 
In the month of June. 18<i3, he enlisted in 
Company " F," in the First Battalion, and 
served in the same until January, 1864. Af- 
ter going home and remaining a few weeks, 
he re enlisted in Company " F," Ninety -third 
Volunteer Infantry, of Pennsylvania, " for 
three years, or during the wai'." He received 
his honorable discharge, July 3, 1865, at the 
City of Ilarrisbui'g, after which he went 
home and remained until the spring of 1867, 
then came to St. Paul. Minnesota, where lie 
remained until fall. He then moved to Da- 
kota count}', ^[innesota, where he followed 
farmini;- for eight vears, after wiiich he 
moved to Washington county, Minnesota, 
and lived there two years. In 1877, he 
came to his present location, in Stevens 
county, and bougiit a t|Uarter-section of im- 
proved land, where he lives at the present 
time. 

^[r. Ligiit was married, Septeml)er 1, ISfiii, 
to Kate Good. Tliis union has been blessed 
with five sons — Edward D., William C, Da- 
vid IL, John G. and Charles F. 

Mr. Light is an active and exemplary 



member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In his political belief he is a republican. 

Like most of the hard-working men who 
came to this part of the Northwest. Mr. 
Light has seen his days of hardship and 
trial, but in' sticking close to the fai'iii. and 
year by year adding some ini])rovemcnt 
thereto, he has finally come out ahead in the 
race, and now has a conifortalile iiome, and 
is rated as one of the most substantial and 
reliable farmei-s in the county. He is at 
present a member of the board of supervi- 
sors of his township. 

/ITOHN BORRILL, a prosperous resident 



of section 28. Kendsville township, is a 
native of Lincolnshire, England, born Alarch 
18, 1818. and is a son of James and Mary 
(Sandy) Borrill. Jolin remained at home on 
the farm, receiving but a limited education, 
until 1851, when he came to the United 
States, landing in New York City. He came 
direct to White Pigeon, Michigan, where he 
worked on the railroad for thi'ce years. In 
September, ISS-t, he came to Hastings. ^Min- 
nesota, where he took a farm in Douglas, 
Dakota county, where he lived until 1876. 
In October, 1876, he sold out and moved to 
Rcndsville townsliip, Stevens county. Min- 
nesota, where he took a homestead of eighty 
acres on section 28, afterward adding an ad. 
ditional eighty acres, where be has since re- 
sided. 

■ -> •S€^"» 

M DOLPH TRANTOW. a resident of sec- 
2f-^^ tion 10. Swan Lake township. Stevens 
countv, was born in Prussia. April 3n, 1842. 
He attended school until fourteen years of 
a"-e, when he worked in his father's mill for 
two vears. after which he attended sciiool in 
order to acquire the farm inspector's duties. 



524 



STEVENS COUNTY. MINNESOTA. 



He gained the position, and until 1SG9 he 
was engaged i)rinci})aily in this, serving in 
the army some of the time. In May, 1869, 
he immigrated to the United States, and for 
several months was in Iowa working on a 
farm. He soon afterward came to Pope 
county,' Minnesota, and after trap])ing dur- 
ing the next winter settled on his present 
farm. 

Mr. Trantow was married to Miss Putzke, 
by \vl]()m were born six children, three of 
wliom are living. They are members of the 
Lutheran Church, and in jwlitical matters he 
is a republican. 



[OHN WILLIAM BANGLE, was born in 
^lassena, St. Lawrence county, New 
York, October 30, 1843. He was limited to 
a common school education. In July, 1SC2, 
he enlisted in Company F, One-Huudred-and- 
Sixth New York Infantry. As a soldier he 
made a good record, and was honorably 
discharged July 16, 1865. After a varied 
career and moving from point to point, he 
came in June, 1885, to Eendsville town- 
ship, Stevens county, where he bought 16-i 
acres of land on section 2. Here he has 
since remained. Our subject on August 22, 
1875, married Amelia Dignass, a native of 
Le Seuer county. Mr. and Mrs. Bangle are 
blessed with a family of eight children. Mr. 
Bangle now draws a ])ension of $10 per 
month. He takes an active interest in local 
affairs, and holds the offices of justice of the 
peace and school clerk. 



^ENRY HEUER, is a prominent citizen 
of Stevens county, and is engaged in 
agricultural pursuits on section IS, of Pepper- 
ton township. He was born in St. Louis, 
Missouri, September 25, 1857, and at the age 



of about eighteen months his parents moved 
to Madison county, Illinois, and his father 
bought 320 acres of land near Doi'sey, where 
they remained until the father's death. The 
mother died in the fall of 1882, and tiie 
father some years ])revious. Tliey had a 
family of nine children, all of whom are 
living, and our subject is tiie oldest boy and 
the second child. He remained in Madison 
county, Illinois, with his parents until he 
was twenty-one years of age, when he 
started in life for himself. He spent some 
months in travelinj;- throug-h Iowa, looking- 
up a ])lace to settle, and then came to St. 
Paul. Minnesota, and after remaining there 
for one month he came to Stevens county, 
and first stopped in Morris. He bought 180 
acres on section 17, from the I'ailroad com- 
pany, and in the fall returned to his old 
home, where he remained during the winter, 
and in the following spring he ]5urchased the 
necessary implements of husbanchy and 
returned. He then took a tree claim of 
180 acres on section 18, and has since 
remained there. He has a good farm of 
320 acres, 150 acres under cultivation and 
has substantial building im])rovements. He 
takes an active interest in all local affairs 
and has held the various offices of his town- 
ship, including chairman of the boai'd of 
supervisors, etc., etc. He lias been jjromi- 
nently identified with the official history of 
the township in which he lives, and is highly 
i'es|)ected in his community, both as a neigh- 
bor and an exemplary citizen. 



.««; 



fDHN HADDEN, one of Stevens county's 
prominent and thrifty farmei's, lives on 
section IL Moore township. He is a native 
of Ireland, but of Scotch-Irish descent. He 
was born in County Armagh, January 6, 
1838, and is the son of Richard anil Susan 
(Pennington) Hadden, who were also natives 



STEVENS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



of Ireland. They visited tliis country in 
1873, I'eiiiained some time and tiion returned. 
The father luis since died. Tiieir family 
consisted of nine cliildren, tlirec of wiioni 
died in tlieir infancy. Joiin and Henry 
(twins), I)avi(.l, liiciuird, James and Anna 
are tlie names of those living. 

Our subject, John lladden, spent his school 
days in Ireland ; at the age of thirteen he 
left school and worked on his fathers farm, 
until lie was sixteen years old, wiien he en- 
listed in the Is inety-seventh Earl of Ulster's 
Kegiment, going in October 22, 1855, serv- 
ing during the latter part of the Crimean 
"War, and Sepoy liebellion in the East Indies, 
until isti". lie was quarterma.ster ser- 
geant, color sergeant and pa\'master of his 
company. After iiis discharge, Xovember 
17, lSf)7, lie went back to Ireland, and Jan- 
uary 9, 1868, married Miss Esther Edwards, 
a native of Wales, born July -1, 1847. 

Her parents were David and Marian 
(Archer) Edwards, who were the jiarents of 
four children — John T. born August 25, 
18-t-3, George A., born September 17, 1845; 
Esther, born July 4, 1847, and James "W., 
born March 17, 1840. The latter named 
^ied in early childiiood. Mrs. lladden was 
educated in Armagh county, Ireland, leaving 
school at seventeen years of age. After 
their marriage Mr. and Mi's. lladden came to 
Halifax, Nova Scotia, remained there a few 
months, and went to Portland, Maine, then 
to Illinois, remaining in the latter State for 
about five years, and from there they re- 
moved to New York, whei'e he worked for 
Colgate ct Company, soap manufacturoi's. 
After a service of six years tiiere at handling 
grease, tallow, oils etc., and an engagement 
of two years ('])revious to this six year.s' resi- 
dence in New York) with J. K. Thompson ife 
Corai)any's Steel Works, at Jei-sey City, Mr. 
lladden came to ^Finm^sota, locating on sec- 
tion 22, Moore townshij). He liought 160 
acres of land there, also 160 acres on section 



23, and Kio acres on section 14, Moore town- 
ship, which constitute his ])resent farm, upon 
which he raises line blooded stock. He has 
a most excellent blooded bull, the fift of J. 
J. Hill, president of the great Manitoba Rail- 
way system, ilr. lladden also carries on 
general farming, and is rated as one of the 
most solid and substantial fanners in the 
county. 

Mr. and Mr.s. lladden are the parents ol' 
seven children — Robert Aclieson, born 
December 8, 1868; John David, born April 
26, 1871; Esther Anna, born July ;^1. 1873; 
Walter James, born November 24. 1874 
(deceased April 25, 1880); Oeorge Edward, 
born February 6, 1877; Richard Henry, born 
June 14,1879 (deceased April 25, 1880); 
Caroline Stewart, born K\n\\ 9, 1882, died 
October 25, 1886. 

Politically our subject is a republican. 
He has often held local offices, includino-that 
of township clei'k, being elected in Marcii, 
1887, and is still holding the olKce. He has 
also been justice of the i)eace. He stands 
high among the people of Stevens county, 
and has ever been alive to the best interests 
of the citizens of Moore township, in which 
he lives. He belongs to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, of which he is a faithful mem- 
ber. He is also an lionored member of the 
Masonic fraternity and of the Sons of Temp- 
erance lodjre. 



ill!' 



l>resent 



-«"JSt^> 



^Iji^HOMAS THOMASSON, 
\JL deputy clerk of tiie court of Stevens 
county, came to that county July 1, 1867, 
being one of the first settlei"s. \\o came from 
Green county, Wisconsin, with an ox team, 
and was some six weeks in traveling tlie4<io 
miles. As soon as ])i)ssible, after I'eaching 
this region of the country, he took up a 
farm of 175 acres and at once commenced to 



526 



STF.rFXS COCA'TV. MIXXF.SOTA. 



make improvements. During the season of 
1868 he cultivated six acres of land, planting 
the common cereals of this country. In the 
fall of ISrtStbe " Gager Station" was estab- 
lished and a ]:>etition for a postofRce was 
drawn u|). Ijest(jwing the office of postmaster 
upon Mr. Thomasson. He continued to hold 
the office until 1870, when he resigned. Mr. 
Thomasson remained on his farm until the 
fall of 1878, when he sold out and bought 
some property in Morri.s, but soon after took 
a farm in Franinas township. In 1883 he 
made a journey to Washington Teii'itory, re- 
maining there some few months, and then 
returning to ]Morris, where he engaged at the 
carpenter's tratle, and in July, 1885, was ap- 
pointed deputy clerk of the court, which 
position he has since held. 



T^i^lLO CAMP, a prosperous farmer of 
_^^ir^ Stevens county, living on his farm 
on section 16, of Scott township, is the son 
of Milo and Sarah (Northrup) Camp ; he 
was born at Sinclairville, Chautauqua county. 
New York, Januai-y 6, 1853. "When he was 
about three years old, his })eople came to 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, that being in 1856; 
they remained one year, and then moved to 
Swan Iliver, Morrison county, Minnesota, 
settling on a heavy timber land farm. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1859 — 60, there were 
300 Indians in sight all wintei'. Milo re- 
mained there with his parents until he was 
twenty years of age, seeing some poverty 
stricken hard times, dui'in<>' those long. 
dreary 3'ears. He and his brother picked up 
potatoes from the Government barracks that 
had been thrown out by soldiers, and they 
used them for seed the following season. 
From seven bushels they raised over 300 
bushels, without even plowing the land 
which produced them. They planted the 
seed with a hoe and an ax, between stumps 



and brush. The family were there at the 
time of the Indian trouble, and remained 
until the savages were within a few miles of 
the place. They had been warned of the 
impending danger, and finally ordered by 
the military officers to leave and take refuge 
at the barracks at the towns of Little Falls, 
where the\' remained about three months. 
After this trouble had subsided, they went 
back and lived on the farm, until 1873. At 
this time our subject went away to work for 
himself, going into a saAV mill, summer time, 
and attending school in the winter In the 
spring of 1879, he started in on a course at 
Carleton College, but after attending one 
year, his health failed him, causing him to 
leave school. He then went to Big Stone 
county, Minnesota, at a time when there was 
only one house in Brown's Valley. After he 
had paid for filing on a claim, he had but 
five dollars left. But he steadily kept press- 
ing onward, and sold his coat and a few 
things of personal effects, with which he paid 
for breaking ten acres. He then worked out 
by the month, at Morris and other points, as 
well as working three winters in the pineries, 
whereb}' he earned enough to buy a voke of 
oxen. He then went to his land, and com- 
menced to improve the same, keeping 
" bachelors' hall" for five years. He changed 
his "single blessedness" state December 24, 
1883, by marrying Mary Harriett Bowers, a 
native of Wisconsin. Their union has been 
blessed by the birth of the following named 
children — Elverna, born September 22, 1884; 
George Wilson, born April 17, 1886 ; and 
Sarah, born August 27, 1888. Mrs. Camp 
was a teacher and dressmaker prior to her 
marriage. 

Our subject does a large farming business 
ana raises much fine stock. He has come to 
be a large land owner, possessing 598 acres 
in Scott township, a quarter section, in Big 
Stone county and an equal amount in Stearns 
county. He has 300 acres which he has in 



I 



STF.VFXS COUA'TY, ,V/XXF.SOT.i. 



527 



crops and 100 acres of tame grass land. He 
now has thirty-three head of horses and 
ninety licad of cattle, including- thorouo-hhred 
and grades ; also Shorl-iioriis and Diirlianis. 
During the season of 188S he placed upward 
of 100 tons of tame liay witiiin liis liarn. 
The iin])roveinents about iiis place an; beau- 
tiful indeed, lie having a hiindsonie resi- 
dence, situated on Clear Lake. 

Mr. Canij) is a uiendK'r, in gvjod standing, 
of the Golden Sheaf Lodge, No. 133, An- 
cient, Free and Accepted ^fasons, at Morris, 
Minnesota. He has been closely identilied 
with the settlement and growth of Stevens 
county ; he has held many local offices, in- 
chuling township supervisor, road-master, 
etc. In 1888 he was nominated by tiie pro- 
hibition party, for county commissionei', and 
afterward endorsed by tiie republicans. 

Before concluding this biograi)iMcal sketch 
of a truly worthy gentleman, it is well to 
speak of a few other facts connected with 
^Ir. Camp and his family connections, etc. 
lie has traveled very extensively, having 
gone all over Dakota, alone and through 
bands of Indians. lie has gone for weeks 
witii nothing for diet Ijut salt pork, bread 
ami tea. He was then traveling intlie inter- 
ests of the Nortiiern Pacific Railway Com- 
pany. He is a brother of the wealth}^ Major 
G. A. Camp, of Minnea])olis. He lias a 
brother Merlin, living in Hennepin county, 
at Parker's Lake. A sister, Mrs. Hicks, lives 
near St. Cloud. Another sister, Cornelia A., 
married J. L. Hall, and now lives in Denver, 
Colorado, a widow. Mr. Camp's parents are 
l)otli dead; the father died in 1873, and tiie 
mother in 1870. Mrs. Camp's father lives 
on a farm in Big Stone county ; her mother 
is deceased. 

GEXEALOGY OF THE CAMP FAMILY. 

Ilezekiah Camp, of Salisbury, Connecticut, 
received a large grant of land from the 
English Government on whicii was located an 



iron mine. He owned and operated a smelt- 
ing furnace, and in company with liis third 
son, Abial, built uji a jirosperous business. 

His was the lirst smeltiu'r furnace in Con- 
I . 

necticut, if not in New England. He was 

tlic father of si.\ sons and si.x dauglitei-s — 
Ilezekiah, Abial. Joel, John and Samuel; the 
, name of tlie others we have not learned. 
One daugiitei- mnrrieil Jonatiian Lcavitt 
and was grandmolii(>r of Joshua Lcavitt, a 
noted scholar and divine; another a ,Mr. Lee, 
and anotiier a ]\Ir. Cliapin. Eacii was 
mother of one chdd. Tiie intermarriage of 
these children consolidated large estates. 
The names of the other daugiitei's have not 
been ascertained. Elisiia Norton of Fre- 
donia. Cliant county, New York, is a great 
grandson of Ilezekiah Camp, Sr., whose 
son John was liis grandfather. Samuel, the 
eleventh child of Hezekiah Camp, Sr., was 
graduated at Yale College, and after going 
through a theological course of studj^, en- 
tered tlie ministry. He located in the 
township of Ridgelield, Fairfield county, 
Connecticut, where he preached and labored 
for the advancement of the gospel of Christ. 
Three times during the Revolutionary War, 
he was drafted into the army. Iliringa sub- 
stitute each time, he continuetl his ministra- 
tions to his people, refusing to accejit any 
remuneration for his services, during the 
eight years of tlie war. He was three times 
married. Caroline Gurnsey, his first wife, 
came of a noted Scotcli family. She died 
young, leaving two sons and one dauglitcr. 
Samuel Abial, the eldest son, married Lcmira 
Wilson; Currance died at tiie age. of tiiree 
years; Mary married ilartin Hays, and re- 
moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where slie died, 
leaving a family. 

Tlie seconil wife was a Miss Barker, an 
aunt of General Barker, of Fredonia. New 
York. She died, leaving twoyoungchildn-n, 
Piiilander and Sally. Caroline, daughter of 
Philander, married a Mr. Shepherd of Onon- 



528 



STEVEXS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



dago county, New York, and his other 
daughter, Hannah, married a Mi\ Ransome, 
and removed to Ciiautauqua countv, New 
York. 

The third wife was the widow of Captain 
Gamahel Xorthup; she was a devoted wife, 
a kind and loving motlier to his orphan 
children, and died without issue. He was a 
man of culture, and his society was sought 
bv the learned and influential men of his 
da3\ For many years after his third wife's 
death he was cared for by his eldest son and 
his wife, who had lived on his estate from 
the time of their marriage. After the death 
of Samuel Abial, which occurred at the age 
of forty-two years, Philander (who, after his 
marriage, had gone to New York city to live) 
returned to Kidgelield, Connecticut, and 
cared for his fathei- during the remainder of 
his life. Kevereiul Samuel Camp is buried 
at Ilidgebury, Connecticut, by the side of 
those whom he so dearly loved while living. 
In 1S72, the house where he lived and died 
and the meeting-house (where for so man\' 
years he preaciied acceptai)ly the gospel) 
were still standing. The garret of the old 
house (in all probability) contains much that 
would throw light upon the jiast history of 
the family, and be of interest to the numer- 
ous descendants in various parts of tlie United 
States. 

Samuel Abial Camp married Lemira Wil- 
son, eldest daughter of Abner Wilson, whose 
fatiier lived to be 104 years of age. He was 
the seventh son of the Lord of Glendale, 
Scotland. Her mother's maiden name was 
Anna Sherwood. Anna Sherwood's mother 
lived to be 120 years of age. At the age of 
eighty years she fell into the fire and burned 
her face so as to destroy her eyesight. 
Slie lived forty years after she was totally 
blind, tenderly cared for by her children and 
grandchildren, and in full ]K)ssession of her 
mental faculties. The most of her time she 
devoted to kuittin"-. Anna Sherwood Wil- 



son lived to be ninety-eight years old, and 
until the year of her death was verj'^ active. 
Slie kept house, her youngest daughter 
Anna living with her ; Miss Anna Wilson 
died at the age of eighty years. Both of these 
women were very active all of their lives, 
and died in full possession of their mental 
faculties. Abner Wilson's father was an 
officer of the guards of theKine: of Enoiand, 
a commission having Ijeen purcliased for him 
when but three weeks old. Becoming ad 
vanced in life he retired on half pay. 
Receiving a grant of land in the Colony of 
Connecticut, he emigrated to America (then 
a wilderness), bringing 120 retainers with 
him, and settled upon the land granted to 
him by the Crown. Here he built a fort, 
surrounded by a mote, with draw-bridge, to 
protect them from the Indians. During the 
Revolutionary AVar he sympathized with the 
Crown. Ridgebury being attacked bv the 
Tories and the town set on fire (after their 
departure), he, assisted by the women and 
children, succeeded in extinguishing the fires, 
thus- saving the town and gaining the confi- 
dence of those who had previously regarded 
him with suspicion, because of his loyalty to 
the Kin"'. He was a rigid churchman. He 
built a chapel on his estates, where he, with 
his family and retainers, was accustomed to 
worshij) ; the rector drawing a salary from 
the revenues of the estate. At the close of 
the war the greater portion of his estates was 
confiscated, some part being allowed him in 
consideration of his saving the town of 
Ridgebury from being burned. He died 
(from over-exertion) sitting in his chair, and 
passed away so quietlj' that he was supposed 
to be sleeping. When called to dinner he 
did not move, and on going to him they 
found that he had ceased to breathe. There 
are no facts in our possession regarding any 
of his children except Abner Wilson. 

Airier Wilson was born at Ridgelield, 
Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1743 ; 



STFr/tjYS COrXTV. MIXNESOTA. 



529 



Anna Sherwood (at same place) in 1742. 
Tlie\' were married about ITCS. Their chil- 
dren were — Leniira, born August 10,1709; 
Tiioinas, born in 1771, dietl. Wa\. 1S58 ; 
Currance, i)i)rn ill 1774, died in 1777: Am- 
nion. Ijorn in 1777; Anna, born in 1781; 
Sally, l)orn in 17S3 ; Betsey, born in 1785 ; 
Ezra, born in 1788. These were all Ixirn in 
Ilidgffield, Fairfield county. Connecticut: 
and Ahah Wilson, born in Greenlield, Sara- 
toga county, New York, in 1793. 

The names of tlic children of Samuel 
Abial and Lemira M'i-lson Camp were as fol- 
lows — Hannah, married to William M. Wago- 
ner; Anna, nuirried to Robert Le Grys ; 
Samuel ; Fanny ; Milo, married to Sarah 
Northup; Merlin, married to Saloma liock- 
well ; John, married to Mrs. Abigail Gilford : 
Abner Wilson, unmarried : and Herman, 
married to Iloxy Carpenter. 

The names of Hannah Camp Wago- 
ner's children were — Mary Lemira, married 
to John P. Davison ; Caroline Gurnsey, nuir- 
ried to Andrew J. Davison ; William M. 
Wagoner, died vountj ; Merlin, married to 
Ellen jjrock ; Anna, nuirried to iMj'ron ^lon- 
tague. The names of Anna Le Gr3's' children 
were — Lemira AVilson, who died unmarried ; 
Theodore, who married a German lady in 
California ; Saloma, who married a Mr. 
Clark, of Fredonia. The names of the 
chiklren of Samuel Camp were Uerraan and 
Elman, both dead ; Orrin ; Fannj^ ; Julia A. ; 
and Flinily. Merlin (yainp had no issue. 
The names of John Camp's children were — 
Janette, John and Herman, all dead; and 
Abner Wilson, married to a Mrs. Ilalliday. 
No ciiihlren. The names of Herman Camp's 
children were — Lemira Wilson, married to 
Mr. Harrington; Catharine; Samuel; all 
three dead; and Cyrus, married, and living 
near Dunkirk. 

Milo Camp was born September 22, 1798; 
Sarah Northu[) was born December 12, 
1806. Thev w^ere mariied in the town of 



Connewango,Cattaraugus county. New York, 
April 16, 1826. Sarali Norliiui) was the 
daughter of Nicholas Northup and Eliza- 
beth IJentley, his wife. Nicholas was tiie 
son of Nicholas Northuj). whose mother 
was the youngest daughter of Lord Needum, 
of Needum Sipiare, London, England. Ladv 
Sarah Needum was married to Nicholas 
Xotlirup. gentleman, alxnit the year \1'A. 
They immigrated to America and settled on 
Long Island Sound, built them a fine resi- 
dence and furnished it luxuriously. Trained 
servants were at theii- command. The 
children of tlie family knew nothing of the 
toil or hardships usual to the settlement of 
a new country. At the age of twenty -one 
j'ears Nicholas had never dressed himself 
without the aid of a valet. Suddenly the 
war-cloud that had so loni>- been threatening: 
the country burst, bringing disaster after 
disaster upon the family. Nicholas, at the 
age of twenty-two, was obliged to seek a 
home for himself and young wife in the then 
western wilderness of Central New York, 
and thereafter to depend on the lalM)r of his 
hands for the support of himself and family. 
He subsequently became a Free-Will Baptist 
minister, and continued to i)reach the gospel 
to the poor settlers without compensation 
until old age compelled him to accept a 
home with his youngest daughter, Lydia. 
wife of Arnold Eentley, a brother of the 
author of the Bentley school readei-s and 
spellers. His son, Nicholas, father of Sarah 
Northup, was the father of fourteen children, 
several of which died in infancy. Those who 
lived to arrive at manhood and womanhood 
were — George T., Anson, Stephen, Brock, 
Saiah, Roxy, Eliza, Eunice and Freelove. 

The names of the children of Milo and 
Sarah Northup Camp were as follows — Cor- 
nelia Antoinette, born February 18, 1827 ; 
Juliette, born December 14, 1828; George 
Albert, born August 9, 1830 ; infant son, 
born and died December 24, 1834; Abner 



530 



STEVEXS COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 



"Wilson, born Octoljer 3, 1835. died May 24. 
188G ; Elizabeth Leniira, born September 11, 
1839, died July 8, 1864; Sarah, born March 
28; 1841, died' April 6, 1841 ; Henry Clay, 
born December 28, 1843, died Deceniljei- 30, 
1863; Merlin Camp, born October IT, 1845, 
and Milo Cam]), born January O, 1853. 

Milo Camp, tlie father, died Fei)ruary 21, 
1873, and Sarah Northup, his wife, died 
August 5, in the year 1880. 

Thus, our subject, Milo Camp's, genealogy, 
in brief, would read as follows — Milo .Camp, 
the son of Milo Camp, the son of Samuel 
Abial Camp, the son of Rev. Samuel Camp, 
the son of Hezekiah Camp ; Milo Camp, son 
of Milo Camp, son of Lemira Wilson Camp, 
daughter of Abner Wilson, the son of the 
seventh son of the Lord of Glendale, Scot- 
land, Milo Camp, son of Sarah Camp, 
daughter of Nicholas North up, son of 
Nicholas Northup, son of Nicholas North- 
up and his wife, Lady Sarah Needum, 



daughter of Lord Needum, 
Square, London, England. 



of Needum 



4PKERMAN ZAHL, 



a resident of section 
20, Swan Lake township, is a native 
of Germany, born December 7, 1836, and is 
a son of Frederick and Williemina (Erdman) 
Zahl, also natives of that kingdom, lleiman 
received a common school education, and 
worked out on a farm, until he learned the 
miller's trade. When twenty years of age, 
he enlisted in the German Army, and served 
four \'ears. After his discharge, he resumed 
his trade, which he followed until 1868, when 
he came to the United States, landing in 
New York, in August, 1868. He came 
direct to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he re- 
mained one j'ear, when he moved to Glen- 
wood, Pojje county, Minnesota, where he 
lived six months. He then moved to his 
present location, and has since remained 
there. 

Mr. Zahl married Miss Rosalie Buth, by 
whom seven children have been born. Mr. 
Zahl and his family, are members of the 
Lutheran C'hurch. He is independent in 
politics. 




